How to help communities affected by flooding in South Africa

At the beginning of June, an extreme weather front swept through South Africa’s Eastern Province, bringing snow, heavy rain and strong winds, and causing devastating floods in one of the country’s poorest regions.

The head of the provincial government said that rescue efforts were “paralyzed” in the first few hours of the flood due to a lack of specialized search and rescue teams, divers and K9 units. With a population of 7.5 million people, the province has only one rescue helicopter, and at the time of the floods, it was 310 miles away.

The deluge killed at least 101 people, and, a month later, many are still missing. At least 38 of the deceased were children. Many of the victims lived in floodplains near rivers, and the poorest areas where informal housing is more common were the worst affected.

At least 4,000 people were left homeless, and 40,000 have been displaced. Homes were swept away, and infrastructure such as roads, bridges, at least 58 schools and 20 health care facilities were destroyed or damaged.

This AP photo essay shows the extent of the damage and initial reports from local officials indicate that an estimated $288 million USD will be needed to repair the damage in Eastern Cape province. As we continue to learn more about the impact of the flooding, it’s clear that survivors face a long and difficult road as they strive to recover from the devastation. There are a variety of ways donors can help affected communities now and in the long term.  

How you can help

• Give cash. As with most disasters, experts recommend cash donations, which allow on-the-ground agencies to direct funds to the greatest area of need, support economic recovery and ensure in-kind donation management does not detract from disaster recovery needs.
• Support immediate and long-term needs to help survivors recover now and better withstand future disasters.
• Give to locally led humanitarian and aid entities whenever possible. These organizations are vital to long-term equitable recovery in communities after a disaster.

CDP’s Global Recovery Fund (GRF) provides donors with the opportunity to support equitable recovery from international disasters. Investing in this fund allows CDP to deploy its expertise beyond a specific disaster, issue or geography. This allows the international grantmaking team to help organizations working on critical low-attention disasters or events that don’t fit within the scope of other CDP funds.