Flood monitoring

Durban / Umgeni floods

Severe

Umgeni catchment · KwaZulu-Natal · Apr 2022

Flood extent

612 km²

61 200 hectares

Normal water extent

48 km²

Settlements affected

84

Modelled from settlement footprints

People affected (est.)

412 000

Before / after comparison

Loading map…

At peak, inundation covered 612 km² — roughly 12.8× the normal water extent for this reach.

Event summary

Extreme rainfall over the lower Umgeni produced widespread inundation across peri-urban settlements and port infrastructure.

Extent derived from Sentinel-1 SAR water/non-water classification; settlement counts are modelled estimates for decision support, not verified damage assessments.