The South African Weather Service (SAWS) has issued a warning for heavy rain, hail, lightning, strong winds over part of the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands and the western parts of the province, as well as the Durban metro.
The storms are expected from this afternoon and may continue late into the night.
Yellow Level 2 warning for thunderstorms: KZN: 8 October 2021 pic.twitter.com/441cZMtXHa
— SA Weather Service (@SAWeatherServic) October 8, 2021
Some of the affected areas are Estcourt, Dannhauser, Ladysmith, Vryheid, Paulpietersburgh, Dundee and Newcastle.
Forecaster Thandiwe Gumede says they are appealing to residents to stay indoors.
“KwaZulu-Natal starting from today can expect partly cloudy conditions with some isolated showers and thunder showers and scattered showers and thunder showers over the north western parts of the province. We are expecting some of those thunderstorms to become severe as we have seen some of those thunderstorms develop over the midlands and in the south coast during the course of the afternoon producing quiet heavy downpours hail, excessive lightning, and some strong wind in certain areas.”
Meanwhile, emergency service ER24 has given the public some tips on what to do during severe storms and localised flooding.
ER24 Spokesperson, Russel Meiring, has advised people to switch off the electrical mains when a house is flooded.
ER24 also says people should get out of a vehicle that is being swept away by floodwater, rather than staying in it.
“Ensure that you are not in open areas or near large trees or high rising objects (as they) may be struck by lightning. We urge that you need to keep a larger-than-normal following distance and decrease your speed as well. When an area is flooded, we also like to seek an alternative route and not cross any flooded roads or low-lying bridges. Debris is often not visible and this can actually damage your vehicle or sweep it away.”
SA Weather | Friday 08 October 2021:
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