South African residents hit by floods begin to rebuild their homes

Victims of devastating flooding in South Africa's hard-hit province of KwaZulu-Natal have started to rebuild their homes and their lives. Close to 4,000 homes were destroyed and more than 40,000 people were displaced by the floods and mudslides caused by prolonged heavy rains last week.

Nosisa Nxumalo, a Dambuza resident a victim of the floods was a hard hit having lost everything and now has to begin life from scratch.  "Everything is destroyed including my children's bed which you can see lying on the ground. We are basically left with nothing," she said. 

 On Monday night, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster in response to the flooding and his  government has allocated $67 million to help those affected by floods that have killed at least 448 people in the eastern city of Durban and surrounding KwaZulu-Natal.

Residents such as Wanda Madlala, have appreciated the government's response to the disaster.  "Seeing our president, visiting various areas affected by the floods was encouraging and showed that he sympathizes with the people. We trust that we will get the assistance as promised," he said.

South Africa's military has deployed 10,000 troops in Operation Chariot to help with continuing search and rescue efforts. According to the officials, more than 40 people remain missing and about 600 schools have been hit with damages estimated at about $28 million. But how long the rebuilding will last is a matter of wait and see.