Intense Storm batters SAfrica coast, closes Durban port
Pastor Dale Morgan
*Intense Storm batters SAfrica coast, closes Durban port*
19 Mar 2007 15:29:51 GMT
Source: Reuters
JOHANNESBURG, March 19 (Reuters) - Durban port, the largest in South
Africa, has been closed due to a violent storm that has caused huge
swells along the Indian Ocean coastline, a port official in the city
said on Monday.
"It was closed yesterday due to the bad weather," said Adrian Naidoo,
who added that operations would not resume until the weather improved.
"We've had strong winds and huge swells. It's been very bad."
He said the port had been closed to incoming vessels since early on
Sunday and that all traffic into and out of the harbour had been stopped
early on Monday.
The port closure came after heavy seas battered a large stretch of South
Africa's southern KwaZulu-Natal province, which is home to to some of
the country's most prized beaches as well as shipping terminals and
other port facilities in Durban.
The swell from the storm was estimated to be at least five-metres high
at some points, which led to flooding along the a large stretch of the
province's coast.
Durban's famed Golden Mile beachfront was littered with debris as
emergency services rescued at least nine people, the SAPA news agency said.
South Africa's weather service reported winds in excess of 80 kilometres
per hour (50 miles per hour) at the height of the storm on Sunday night.
High tides were expected in the area on Tuesday, which could add to the
flooding.
Further north in St. Lucia, the surf was reported to have widened the
mouth of an estuary by several hundred metres, according to SAPA.
No deaths were reported.
(Reporting by Paul Simao; Editing by Bernard Halloran; Johannesburg
bureau 27 11 775 3165)