The sun has been shining almost every day since flash floods tore through the KwaZulu-Natal province’s most populous urban areas on 11 April, but for many people the suffering continues. Large parts of the eThekwini Municipality around the coastal city of Durban, remain without water and sanitation, with no indication of when these services will be restored.
“What we are now seeing is a clean water supply crisis alongside a sanitation and water treatment crisis, creating the conditions for a potential medical crisis,” says Sean Christie, MSF emergency team coordinator.
For the last two weeks, MSF teams have been delivering medical services and water and sanitation solutions to more than 30 shelters where thousands of people who lost their homes are staying. To date, MSF has installed more than 20 water tanks and 60 toilets in shelters that are typically overcrowded, lacking electricity, and without toilets or lack running water. Gradually water and sanitation conditions in many shelters are improving, but the situation is far from stable.
“The water truck didn’t come today,” says Nozipho Sithole, a shelter resident. “We have food, but the shelter’s two large water tanks have been empty all day. It is not only us using the tanks—the entire community is without water. We are all thirsty,” she says, adding that shelter residents are also in great need of medical attention.