'Big waves' fear unfounded
2007-03-19 21:13
Durban - Fears were unfounded that the coastal areas of Durban would be battered by waves of between six and eight metres on Monday afternoon.
By 19:30, waves at Durban's beaches were abating as the city gathered its breath for what will prove to be a huge clean-up after the hammering inflicted by Sunday night and Monday's huge seas inflicted.
ER24's Neil Noble, who was at Durban's Golden Mile, said that although the swells were getting smaller emergency teams planned to stay in the area and other affected spots until 04:00, when a high spring tide was expected to come in.
Police recovered the body of a man, found washed up at Shelley Beach on the South Coast on Monday evening.
Caught by the high tide
Superintendent Zandra Hechter said the man, believed to be about 30 years old, was one of those who helped launch ski boats at the Shelly Beach Ski Boat Club.
"It is believed he was one of the many homeless who live in the bushes along the beach and was caught by the unusual high tide last night."
She said the evidence indicated the man had drowned. An inquest docket has been opened. He had been found by a woman who was taking a walk on the beach.
A man who was washed out to sea on Monday evening by the strong surf that has battered the city for the past 24 hours has been rescued, said paramedics.
Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha said it appeared the man had been watching the heavy surf from the Sun Coast Casino when he was washed out.
Surf-rescue chopper alerted
However, an alert life guard apparently pulled the man to safety.
The man's identity or other details were not immediately available. All that was known was that it was a "white male".
Botha said paramedics had been rushed to the scene and the surf-rescue helicopter activated.
It is believed that the man had gone to watch the enormous waves that have pounded the KwaZulu-Natal coastline since Sunday evening.
Most of the damage to the coastline from St Lucia in the north to Port Edward in the south took place during the high tide in the early hours of Monday morning.
Officials and residents along the entire coastline were seen cleaning up and officials were doing their best to keep curious onlookers at bay.
Durban's beachfront areas were pounded by massive surf, leaving the city's famed Golden Mile littered with debris as emergency services rescued numerous people.
Ports closed
The National Sea Rescue Institute and the police's search-and-rescue unit evacuated nine people from the Isipingo Island Hotel at the mouth of the Isipingo River near Durban International Airport on Monday morning.
The SA Weather Service in Durban said winds in excess of 40 knots (80km/h or gale force) were reported on Sunday night.
The heavy weather forced the closure of all port operations in Durban and Richards Bay.
National Ports Authority spokesperson Jyothi Naidoo said the port had been closed to incoming vessels since Sunday morning and that all departures and arrivals had stopped shortly after midnight.
NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon said particularly high tides were expected on Monday and Tuesday because of the alignment of the Moon, Sun and Earth. This, compounded with the strong onshore winds, had caused the huge surf, he said.
"This is not a spring tide, but all the factors with the strong onshore winds have caused the spring tide-like conditions," he said.
Washed off their feet
The NSRI's Durban station commander Paul Bevis said Monday's high tide was receding so emergency services were now on standby as the situation was under control.
Two women at Durban's Blue Lagoon were washed off their feet when a freak wave crashed into the parking lot in the early hours of Monday.
Netcare 911's Botha said the women were taken to Addington Hospital with cuts, bruises and lacerations. One was six months' pregnant.
The provincial emergency medical rescue services (EMRS) rescued a fisherman who was sleeping on one of Durban's piers while a mother and child who were sleeping under another pier were rescued by a bystander, said Botha.
Staff at Steers on the Lower Marine Parade were injured when waves crashed into the restaurant. None were seriously injured.
Waiting on the tides
One person was injured in Ballito and numerous people evacuated from the promenade area, said Lambinon.
The Vodacom Netcare 911 helicopter was airborne and helping to determine the extent of the damage. There were no immediate reports of lives lost in the area.
"Now we are waiting to see what the tides do," Lambinon said.
In St Lucia, the surf was reported to have widened the mouth of the estuary by several hundred metres, but by mid-morning the strong south westerly wind was reported to be blowing sand into the mouth of the estuary where it had been breached.
Gale force winds coupled with high seas swept away part of the boardwalk linking the Sugarloaf campsite in the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park to the estuary parking area in early on Monday morning.
Lifeguard huts washed away
Significant amounts of seawater continue to enter the estuary since the mouth was breached on March 2, opening the lake to the ocean for the first time in five years.
In Richards Bay, the city's main beach Alkandstrand was closed to the public.
Andy Spies, the acting deputy director for the Umhlatuze Fire and Rescue Services, said the lifeguard huts had been washed away.
The surf had washed up into the parking lot, depositing sand. He said there was damage in the small-craft harbour.
Extensive damage was reported along the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast. In Uvongo, the paving adjacent to the parking lot was ripped up.
At St Michael's Beach, people from the lower-line flats were evacuated.
The perimeter wall of the Olympic swimming pool in Margate was badly damaged.
The entire beach was washed away, with water reaching the steps of the Wimpy restaurant.
Hibiscus Coast municipal spokesman Xolani Dlangalala said: "All beaches will be closed until further notice."
- SAPA