The eThekwini Municipality has unveiled a new internet site to help provide early warnings on extreme weather conditions.
The Forecast Early Warning Systems (FEWS) will upload data on wave and tide patterns, water levels, wind direction, air temperature, atmospheric pressure and relative humidity from several monitoring stations.
Municipal mayor Mxolisi Kaunda says the technology is the first of its kind in Africa.
“We are delighted because we are breaking new grounds as the city as we are leading the pack as the first in Africa to unveil such a system which helps us mitigate the impact of disasters arising from extreme weather patterns. Since 2017 approximately a hundred incidents related to flooding in the municipality required disaster interventions in April and December of 2019 the city experienced heavy rainfall which claimed scores of lives and left a trail of destruction of property and government infrastructure.”
