National disaster declared after KZN tornado and other severe weather events

The tornado that ripped through residential areas north of Durban on Monday, June 3, proved to be a rare and highly destructive event of its kind that only occurs once every ten years in South Africa.

It was one of several incidents that led to the National Disaster Management Center (NDMC) classifying the severe weather conditions in the Eastern Cape, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal as a “national disaster”.

Last week’s floods, high winds, tornadoes and snowfall resulted in devastation across the three provinces, causing deaths, injuries, significant property damage, major infrastructure damage and environmental degradation.

Communities remained in turmoil, with thousands displaced in need of humanitarian assistance. The statement comes as the KZN government announced on Wednesday that more than R1.3 billion was needed to deal with damage in the province.

Head of the National Disaster Management Center Dr. Elias Sithole said the scale of the incidents had exceeded the capacity of the affected communities to manage the disaster using their resources, and the center had classified the situation as a national disaster due to its impact. in at least three provinces, in accordance with Article 23(6) of the Disaster Management Act.

This means a formal recognition by the government that the events pose a significant threat to health, public safety or the environment that municipal and provincial governments cannot address alone.

The primary responsibility for coordinating and managing this disaster now falls to the national executive, which will use legislation and contingency plans to deal with the crisis.

The classification has been in effect since June 5 and notifications have been sent to affected provinces. An official message has also been published in the Government Gazette. The classification will be followed by the disaster declaration, by Cogta Minister Thembi Nkadimeng.

Nkadimeng said the intention was to ensure that lives and livelihoods are protected. To this end, the rest of the government was mobilized to provide assistance to the affected communities.

Sithole urged all organs of state to provide additional support to existing institutions to implement contingency plans and ensure that measures were in place to enable the national government to deal with the consequences of the disaster.

“The NDMC urges all citizens in the affected areas to follow safety guidelines and directives of local authorities. The Center is committed to working with provincial and national agencies to ensure a rapid and effective response to mitigate the impact of these disasters,” Sithole said.

Sithole said the process was underway to mobilize resources from all existing financing opportunities within relevant state bodies around the world – this included risk transfer/insurance measures and donor support.

“A decision on available resources will be made once all information is available and this will include a decision on financing any shortfalls,” he said.

He said disaster funding was available and the amount would be confirmed after all processes and assessments were completed.

Destructive decennial tornado

KZN is no stranger to increasingly severe weather conditions, but last week’s tornado left a trail of destruction.

Twelve people were killed, more than 7,000 homes were damaged and 1,200 homeless families received humanitarian aid. The tornado also destroyed or damaged schools, roads, bridges, community centers and electrical infrastructure.

As relief and repair efforts ramp up, Siboniso Mngadi from the KZN Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Department said that “at this stage the estimated damage costs for the entire province are in excess of R1.3 billion, with eThekwini Metro alone responsible is for the damage. over R480 million.”

Since the storm, NGOs, disaster relief organizations such as Gift of the Givers, volunteers, private donors, social enterprises and the government have been on the ground to help victims rebuild their lives.

On Wednesday, the National Department of Human Settlements delivered the first batch of building materials for some 674 households at eMagwaveni in Tongaat, the worst affected area in KZN, following a “wedge” tornado and a “supercell” thunderstorm.

The Home Affairs Department also set up mobile offices at the eMagwaveni shelter to assist people who had lost their identity documents. These mobile offices are moved to all reception locations to ensure that no one is left behind.

Sassa has conducted more than 3,400 food stamp assessments, has provided more than 2,000 hot meals every day since June 4, and has distributed more than 1,200 mattresses and 1,700 blankets.

Tornadoes are not uncommon in South Africa

The SA Weather Service explained that a line of severe thunderstorms formed along the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal border late on the morning of June 3, ahead of a well-developed low weather system over the western interior of the country.

The cold, dry air moving in from the west collided with the warm, moist atmospheric conditions in the east, particularly KZN, creating ideal conditions for severe thunderstorms.

In addition, a strong low-level change in wind speeds and direction was present over the KZN coast ahead of the line of thunderstorms. This has contributed significantly to the development of “supercell” thunderstorms and tornadoes, SAWS said.

“A tornado is a vigorously rotating column of air that develops from the cloud base of a severe thunderstorm and extends to the ground. Most tornadoes form from strong and violent thunderstorms called “supercell” thunderstorms.

“Tornadoes are the most formidable storms on Earth, causing devastating destruction along their path. Tornadoes typically form in environments where certain atmospheric conditions converge.

“Contrary to popular belief, tornadoes are more common in South Africa than generally thought, although the likelihood of them occurring is still very low. Most tornadoes in the last century (1905-1999) occurred over the eastern provinces, especially around Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.”

The Enhanced Fujita (EF) scale is one of the tools to classify tornadic events and assigns a rating to a tornado based on estimated wind speeds derived from observed damage using various indicators.

SAWS said most tornadoes in South Africa were weak, with a low EF rating of 0 to 2, while stronger and more destructive tornadoes (EF3 and EF4) occurred about every ten years. They concluded that the Tongaat tornado was rated EF3, with wind speeds of 225-265 km/h.

“One of the highest rated tornadoes in South Africa’s history was the Welcome tornado of March 20, 1990, rated an F4 on the Fujita scale, resulting in damage to 4,000 homes, and was one of the costliest in history .

“In 1999 an F4 tornado hit Mount Ayliff. This tornado threw cars and trucks into the air and left 95% of the area’s population homeless,” SAWS said.

On Tuesday, June 4, SAWS said at least two tornadoes had been confirmed in KwaZulu-Natal the day before.

One was a ‘wedge’ tornado (so called because it is wider and taller than it is high) that caused serious damage in Tongaat, and an analysis of the Durban radar data revealed several features that indicated a ‘supercell ‘-thunderstorm.

“At least two thunderstorms could be classified as supercell thunderstorms, while another, despite showing supercell characteristics, did not last long enough to meet the required time criterion. A supercell thunderstorm is a severe type of thunderstorm with a rotating updraft (rising air) and can be identified using weather radar with characteristic features such as the hook echo on the reflectivity field and a rotation signature (mesocyclone) on the Doppler velocity field,” according to SAWS.

SAWS added that such thunderstorms are also known to sometimes produce tornadoes. The thunderstorm that passed over Tongaat and produced a tornado was confirmed to be a supercell, with a hook echo, although it lacked the typical rotational signature on the Doppler velocity field due to several limitations of the radar data.

Frequency of extreme weather events

Climate change is known to be causing the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events and there have been repeated calls to establish reliable early warning systems and strengthen disaster management facilities.

An article from the Institute for Security Studies 2021 found that urban South Africa was ill-prepared for the coming impacts of climate change and that more weather disasters – with rapidly increasing informal settlements, poor land use and inadequate infrastructure – would cause significant losses.

While South Africa has an early warning system in its place it has limitations – some of which are that warnings from SAWS are not always strong enough; that not enough communities are taking action on the warnings, and that urban planning and infrastructure development are slow to integrate climate change adaptation into their practices. DM