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Farirai Machivenyika

Senior Reporter

The weather patterns that caused the floods that hit KwaZulu-Natal last week are unlikely to affect Zimbabwe, the Meteorological Services Department said.

An intense low pressure cell, now called sub-tropical depression Issa, brought very heavy rain that caused major floods along the South African east coast ripping apart roads, destroying hospitals, and sweeping away homes and those trapped inside.

It caused deaths of over 400 people.

Met Department spokesperson Mr James Ngoma said the heavy rains that affected KwaZulu Natal in the past week were localised to that area and would not affect the rest of the region.

“We don’t expect the floods to affect the country, the floods in Durban were localised to that area. We are now transitioning from summer to winter and what we will experience is drop in temperatures,” he said.

The floods have made over 40 000 people homeless while services like electricity and potable water have also been disrupted.

Zimbabwe has experienced floods in the past few years that have destroyed homes and infrastructure especially in the eastern parts of the country.

The worst floods caused by Cyclone Idai hit Chimanimani and Chipinge four years ago resulting in the deaths of hundreds of people and causing damage to roads and other infrastructure. Like Idai, Issa is the ninth major tropical depression of the season.