What an insane storm and experience last night.
Last night, I saw some flashes in the sky, so I headed down to my usual spot at the lifeguard's station, looking down over Bronze Beach in Umhlanga Rocks.
The flashes were incredibly active, but very few actual strikes were visible through the clouds. I took a few photos of a few strikes that I managed to capture in the distance over the ocean.
Suddenly, the heavens opened up, and there was a massive sudden downpour. The lightning flashed all around, but you couldn't really see the strikes through the mass of water coming down. I managed to capture a few strikes before heading back to my car.
When I got to my car, the whole road had flooded ahead of me. I decided to drive back in the other direction but hit another flooded area, which caused my car to stall. Luckily, I managed to restart it and drove further down the road, but then the road started collapsing in front of me. I managed to reverse out. I eventually parked my car on the side of the road and walked home in the rain.
This morning, so many of the roads in and around Umhlanga have collapsed, and there is widespread damage throughout Durban.
These are the images I managed to capture before being forced to take cover.
Sometimes, Mother Nature lets us know who is really in charge.
I hope that everyone is also safe and sound despite the massive damage and destruction.
Something that has warmed my heart in and amongst all this destruction is how people have come together to help each other. So many people out and about doing what they can to assist each other.
South Africans have been through so much. We are so resilient, and we come together when we need to.
I am Proudly South African.