Floods will kill more in SA

2007-08-23 07:30

Anesca Smith

Cape Town - Floods claim more than 7 000 lives a year worldwide and are the most commonly occurring natural disaster in South Africa, Parliament heard this week.

The South African Weather Service expressed concern over an increase in this phenomenon and said it was not clear to what extent global warming would worsen the situation.

There were very few weather radars in the Southern African region besides South Africa's, which made forecasting more difficult.

Eugene Poolman of the Weather Service said most of the flooding in this region occurred in the southern and eastern part of the sub-continent.

Between 1920 and the present, floods were the most common natural disasters in South Africa as well as Mozambique.

The number of people who had died as a result of floods in South Africa in the past century was nearly 5 000.

This was surpassed only by the number of deaths from epidemics, at more than 27 000.

Poolman told members of Parliament's portfolio committee on environmental affairs and tourism that while there were nine huge floods in the region between 1984 and 1988, the figure had grown to 59 between 1999 and 2003.

In addition, those who suffered worst were women and children and people in rural areas, he said.

- Die Burger