Photos: Deadly floods wreak havoc in South Africa

Heavy rains and flooding battered the eastern coast of South Africa, killing at least 259 people while damaging homes and destroying roads.

The flooding hit the province of KwaZulu-Natal, which includes the coastal city of Durban. Roads cracked and gave way to deep fissures. A huge stack of shipping containers collapsed into muddy waters. A bridge was swept away, leaving people stranded on either side.

KwaZulu-Natal has experienced extreme rainfall since Monday. In a statement posted to Facebook, the provincial government called it “one of the worst weather storms in the history of our country.”

Teams have been working to evacuate areas that experienced “mudslides, flooding and structural collapses of buildings and roads,” Sipho Hlomuka, a member of the Executive Council for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs in KwaZulu-Natal, said on Twitter.