Residents and emergency services in KwaZulu-Natal’s northern areas have been placed on high alert for inclement weather caused by tropical storm Dineo.
KwaZulu-Natal Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, said in Durban that disaster management teams in the districts of Umkhanyakude and Zululand had been placed on high alert.
At midday Wednesday, Dineo was classified as a tropical storm, but according to the South African Weather Service the storm was expected to intensify into a cyclone over Mozambique.
Apart from Northern KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces were also expected to be affected by Dineo.
“We are advised that the cyclone will trigger extreme weather conditions which may lead to floods and heavy winds travelling at high speeds. It is therefore inevitable that such conditions may lead to some form of emergencies or even disasters,” she said.
She urged communities in the northern parts of the province to heed warnings and to be aware of the potential for severe weather from Thursday onwards.
She said a joint operations centre had been established in Umkhanyakude.
She urged those who were taking chronic medication to ensure that they had their medication with them in the event that an evacuation was ordered.
She also urged motorists not to take any chances, especially at low-lying bridges or roads that had become submerged under water.
– African News Agency (ANA)
