South Africa Deploys 10k Troops After Devastating Floods

JUL 22 2022·Updated JAN 23 2023

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Image credit: ndtv

The Facts

South Africa has activated its National Defence Force to support disaster relief for devastating flooding in the KwaZulu-Natal province. 10k troops will support clean-up, logistics, medical operations, rescue, and reconnaissance.
Al Jazeera
As of Mon., 440 people were confirmed dead with 63 missing in the rapidly-evolving disaster. 4k homes were destroyed and another 8k were damaged.
BBC News
The intense rainfall that began last week has since eased. The amount of rain which fell last Mon. was equal to about 75% of South Africa's avg. annual precipitation.
BBC News
The storms, which brought flooding and landslides, have left thousands of residents homeless, knocked out power and water services, and delayed operations at Durban - the country's busiest port.
The Hill
The storms were not tropical in origin. Instead, they were from a normal South African weather system called a "cut-off low" - which can bring heavy rain and cold weather. Some meteorologists cited warmer seas as a factor that catalyzed the intense rainfall.
NDTV
The South African Weather Service issued timely warnings, but the deluge exceeded the forecasted rain totals.
guardian

Sources Split

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The Spin

Narrative A

There's no doubt the catastrophic floods are due to climate change. This disaster is sending a message that climate change is serious and it's here, right now.

NPR

Narrative B

It's impossible to attribute individual weather events occurring over short time frames to global warming - even if more extreme events are generally increasing over time.

BBC News

Narrative C

This tragedy is a teachable moment. 90% of African cities don't have a substantial climate adaptation plan. Durban did release a Climate Action Plan in 2020, but unfortunately there's no evidence it's being implemented.