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Damage to the Durban coastline in 2007 from the biggest recorded storm in the history of South Africa’s east coast. Photo by Supplied
According to a Nature Geoscience journal study, tropical cyclones like Eloise could soon hit South African coastal cities.
The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), led the study that was published in December. It found that tropical storms, which are currently confined to central Mozambique, could travel south due to the climate crisis-induced ocean warming.
READ: Cyclone Eloise – 2 children killed, hundreds of houses damaged in three provinces
Led by UKZN head of the marine geology research unit Professor Andrew Green, the team of geologists who conducted the study consists of Professor Shannon Dixon; Professor Matthias Zabel and Dr Annette Hahn from the University of Bremen’s Center for Marine Environmental Sciences in Germany; and Dr Carlos Loureiro from the University of Stirling in the UK.
“We found distinctive sediments that were deposited by severe storms that struck the coast between approximately 5 000 and 7 000 years ago,” said Green.
“These storms were much bigger than any storm that happened in the 4 000 years since. This has allowed the storm sediments, or tempestites, to be preserved just beneath the seabed,” he said.
These storms were not accompanied by cities, buildings, or roads back then.
“The coastline was free to adjust in a natural manner,” Cooper said.
READ: KwaZulu-Natal storms killed 24 people, with one still missing, says Cogta MPEC
According to the team, if the storms hit today, they could have devastating effects on cities like Durban and Richards Bay.
According to a report by the humanitarian information portal ReliefWeb, Cyclone Eloise made landfall in the early hours of January 23 2021, 20km south of Beira in Sofala Province, bringing winds of up to 140km/hr and gusts of over 160km/hr, as well as extreme and widespread rainfall to Beira – 250mm in 24 hours.
“At least 11 people died due to Cyclone Eloise and many were injured,” the report said.
UKZN said the research gives impetus to the need to evaluate hazards along the country’s east coast, which will be more vulnerable should tropical cyclones make landfall.
Monday morning, 35 people were rescued in flood areas in Ladysmith (KwaZulu-Natal), where heavy rains have been the norm since mid-December.
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