A 33-year-old Khanyisile Hlekwa who survived a South African flood that killed 13 and displaced thousands said she thought she would die.
According to reports, Hlekwa screamed for help as floodwaters surged into the windows of her home in Northeast South Africa, where she and her four children were trapped by the deluge.
“I thought I was going to die. The water was so high, and it was swirling.” she told AFP after her ordeal in the small town of Kamhlushwa in Mpumalanga Province.
Hlekwa and her family are among dozens left homeless and destitute by the South African floods that killed 13 people, after days of relentless heavy rains showed no signs of letting up.
“The floods came heavily through the windows at 4 AM. When I tried to call the neighbours for help, I realised they were also trapped in their house. That is when I started to scream for help.” Hlekwa said, as she weaved a grass mat.
Hlekwa said water levels had reached just above her stomach before a neighbour used a rope to pull her and her children out through a window.
Her house, an informal structure made with mud and cement, collapsed.
She and her children are among dozens of families who have sought refuge at an abandoned school, where they have been sleeping on thin sponge mattresses for a week.
Dozens of children lined up on Thursday to receive a bowl of corn mash paired with a vegetable relish in the school hall.
Homes washed away
South Africa declared a national state of disaster this week as floods hit seven of its nine provinces, damaging infrastructure and destroying crops.
“Four people died in Mpumalanga Province, one of the hardest hit provinces,” said Lungi Mtshali, Spokesman for the National Disaster Management Department.
Local Mayor Phindile Magugula said four people remained missing in their district, where hundreds had been displaced.
“We have almost 1815 families that are without shelter some of their homes have been washed away by the heavy rains,” Magugula told AFP.