KwaZulu-Natal is preparing for another bout of severe weather, with the South African Weather Service issuing a Level 4 warning for heavy rain, strong winds and hail across parts of the province.
The alert comes as rescue teams continue search efforts for two missing people in New Hanover, where recent flooding has displaced hundreds. The province has endured repeated storms in recent weeks, underscoring what officials say is the growing impact of climate change.
The KZN Department of Cooperative Governance said the repeated disasters highlight the urgent need to strengthen the province’s resilience to extreme weather.
Climate experts agree. Professor Guy Midgely from Stellenbosch University’s School for Climate Change said virtually every weather event worldwide is now influenced by climate change.
“There’s too much additional energy in the atmosphere, particularly in the oceans, which has supercharged the climate system and made it more reactive,” he explained. Midgely said climate change is now so widespread that it affects, to some degree, every storm and extreme condition experienced globally.
He added that long-standing scientific projections warned that the El Niño–La Niña cycle would grow more intense. “A few years ago, it was predicted that by the end of the century these events would double in frequency,” he said.