South Africa Declares National Disaster After Deadly Flooding, Severe Storms and Snowfall Batter Multiple Provinces

Deadly flooding sweeps across South Africa

South Africa has declared a national disaster after days of torrential rain, flooding, thunderstorms, damaging winds and snowfall battered large parts of the country, leaving at least 10 people dead and thousands of homes damaged.

The severe weather has affected multiple provinces since May 4, including the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, North West, Free State and Mpumalanga. Entire neighborhoods have been inundated, roads washed out and communities cut off as rivers overflowed and heavy rain continued to pound the region.

In many places, muddy water surged through streets and informal settlements. Roofs buckled under relentless rain while floodwater pushed through homes and businesses.
The disaster declaration allows authorities to unlock emergency funding and intensify response operations across the country.

Cape Town and Garden Route among hardest-hit areas

Cape Town, South Africa was severely affected by the flooding, with authorities temporarily closing schools and parts of the Table Mountain tourist attraction.

Officials said at least 26 informal settlements around the city were hit by floodwater, with more than 10,000 structures damaged.

The Western Cape province, particularly the Garden Route region, emerged as one of the areas hardest hit by the storm system. Flooded roads, rockfalls and storm damage disrupted transportation routes across the region.

Gerhard Otto, Head of Disaster Management in the Garden Route, described the flooding as the worst seen there in 30 years.

At least 45 roads were reportedly closed as emergency teams worked to assess damage and clear debris. Some communities became isolated after rising water and storm damage cut access routes.

Among the affected roads was the R328 route leading to the Cango Caves, which was shut down because of rockfalls triggered by the severe weather.

Emergency services remain on high alert

The National Disaster Management Centre officially classified the severe weather as a National Disaster following consultations with state authorities and provincial disaster management centers. Officials said the scale and severity of the system forced the response to move to a national level.

Bongani Elias Sithole, head of the National Disaster Management Centre, said the decision followed assessments of the “magnitude and severity" of the disaster affecting the country.

Government agencies are now intensifying coordinated relief and recovery efforts, while funding is expected to support infrastructure repairs and assistance for affected communities. Authorities said the release of funds remains subject to formal assessments and approval processes.

Emergency services across the country remain on high alert as another powerful cold front approaches.

Further severe weather expected

The South African Weather Service issued another Level 8 severe storm warning ahead of a new cold front expected to impact the Western Cape between May 10 and May 12.
Forecasters warned of more disruptive rainfall, damaging waves and strong winds, with the Western Cape expected to bear the brunt of the incoming system. Southern areas of the Northern Cape were also expected to face severe weather conditions.

Authorities warned that additional rainfall could trigger widespread flooding in both formal and informal residential areas, while dangerous driving conditions and major transport disruptions were also expected.

The storm has already left infrastructure heavily damaged in several regions.

Communities struggle with outages and damage

In the Eastern Cape, South Africa, parts of Nelson Mandela Bay continued to experience unstable water and electricity services days after earlier flooding damaged key infrastructure.

Residents in several neighborhoods were still dealing with low water pressure, intermittent supply interruptions and continuing power outages as municipal teams worked to stabilize systems and repair damaged facilities.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed “deep sadness" over the deaths caused by the severe weather and said authorities were making “the best use of science to pre-empt some of these events and to respond to the aftermath."

Experts say severe flooding across Southern Africa has intensified in recent years under increasingly extreme weather patterns. Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa have all experienced unusually heavy rainfall in recent months, including some of the worst flooding the region has seen in years.