Fatalities reported as heavy rains cause severe flooding in South Africa's Western Cape

Over the weekend, heavy rain and strong winds caused devastation in South Africa's Western Cape province, including Cape Town, resulting in the deaths of at least 11 people. Authorities fear that the death toll may rise as floodwaters recede. The destructive weather caused widespread flooding, damaging homes, roofs, crops, roads, and infrastructure. Rescue teams are still searching for individuals who may be trapped in partially submerged houses. Of the 11 fatalities, eight were electrocuted in an informal settlement where floodwater overwhelmed illegal connections to power lines. Furthermore, 72 school students and 10 adults were briefly stranded in a resort in Oudtshoorn due to an overflowed river, but they were safely rescued later. The heavy rainfall also caused the closure of over 80 roads and left around 15,000 homes without electricity. To deal with the aftermath of the rainfall, the Mayor of Cape Town declared a major incident and requested additional resources and relief measures. The city has also temporarily closed the Steenbras Nature Reserve and Gorge hiking route to assess the extent of the flood's impact. Helicopters have been deployed to search for trapped individuals in areas where the situation is expected to be severe. These damaging rains occurred just a week after the area experienced abnormally high spring tides. Climate change has been attributed to some of the recent extreme weather events in South Africa, including the devastating floods in KwaZulu-Natal in 2022, which claimed the lives of over 430 people, and the water crisis in Gqeberha last year.