‘Climate Change Is Here, Warns South African Leaders After Durban Floods Kill 300

Stranded people stand in front of a bridge that was swept away in Ntuzuma outside Durban

- Saphora Smith

South Africa's president Cyril Ramaphosa has said disastrous flooding in the Durban area is linked to the climate emergency, as the death toll climbs to more than 300 people.

“This disaster is part of climate change,” he said, as he visited communities affected by the flooding on Wednesday. “It is telling us that climate change is serious, it is here. We no longer can postpone what we need to do, and the measures we need to take to deal with climate change.”

Heavy rainfall in the coastal province of KwaZulu-Natal in recent days has killed at least 306 people, the provincial government said yesterday. Photos from the area show roads, bridges, and shipping containers at Durban's port swept away by the deluge and low lying parts of the city underwater. Access to essential services such as water and sanitation had also been affected, a government official said.

Increasingly, scientists are able to assess if and to what extent climate change influenced some types of extreme weather events.