JOHANNESBURG, June 13 (Xinhua) -- With at least 78 people confirmed dead due to recent floods in South Africa's Eastern Cape Province, experts are urging local communities to become more proactive in responding to increasingly frequent extreme weather events.
"The frequency of extreme weather events is definitely growing, especially over the eastern half of the country. Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal are often impacted due to their geographic position. Many weather systems either start or end in those provinces," said weather forecaster Lehlohonolo Thobela from the South African Weather Service.
The South African government on Thursday announced a state of national disaster in four provinces, namely KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Free State, and Western Cape.
"We issued weather warnings for Monday and Tuesday, including orange level 6 warnings for disruptive rain and disruptive snow over the high-lying areas in the Eastern Cape and southern KwaZulu-Natal. So the lead time was actually good -- people had time to prepare and decide not to send people to school or take other actions," Thobela said.
Echoing Thobela, senior meteorologist at Africa Weather Siphesihle Kunene also emphasized the need for stronger and better collaboration between weather services, disaster management, and local communities to reduce fatalities associated with inclement weather.
"Creating clear protocols and direct communication channels that can rapidly reach affected populations would help. A more robust public alert system with a bigger 'mouthpiece' to raise awareness is needed," he said.
