Durban wildlife, marine centre work to repair storm damage

Paul Hoyte with the Centre for Rehabilitation of Wildlife says their teams have been working on repairing their premises since torrents of rain lashed their centre in Yellowwood Park, south of Durban.  

"Our first concern was to just get the animals out of the enclosures. They filled up so quickly," he says. 

He says they had to relocate a number of animals after trees collapsed onto flooded enclosures. Hoyte says they lost a baby mongoose.  

"Even though we had gone to sort out the drainage before, clearly, it wasn't enough to handle the capacity of rain. At the moment, most of the animals have been moved up to the clinic area where we have separate holding rooms for the animals.

"Because of all the debris on the road and the river flowing down the road. It will take anything in the vicinity of R200 000 and R250 000 to get everything fixed and on the go. Fortunately, members of the public have rocked up at the centre to assist us in the clean-up as well. There are people who are starting to donate as well," he says. 

Meanwhile, Stella Khumalo from uShaka Marine World says they were also badly hit. 

"Fortunately,  we had everyone assisting. Departments that are not even working in operations had to come and help. The place is looking better than it was yesterday morning. We have had to do several backwashing of the water. It is not just cleanliness but ensuring that everything is in a safe condition," she says. 

Sea Animals Encounters Island and Sea World reopened to the public this morning. uShaka Kids World remains closed for now. 

Meanwhile, eThekwini says its Disaster Management Centre is busy collating all information on infrastructure damage in the city. See scenes from the storm below.