S. Africa Flood Leaves 130 Dead, Up to 1,000 Homeless : Disaster: Waterways swollen by Christmas downpour overflow. Shantytowns in eastern province are inundated.

In one of the country’s worst floods, at least 130 people drowned and up to 1,000 were reported homeless after a rain-swollen river raged through crowded Zulu townships and squatter camps near Pietermaritzburg, officials said Tuesday.

Military and police rescue teams helped search for survivors and recovered bodies Tuesday afternoon in the Edendale Valley, a cluster of slum communities in KwaZulu-Natal province, about 240 miles southeast of Johannesburg.

“We believe there are still more bodies out there,” provincial police Supt. Henri Budhram said in a telephone interview. “Many people have reported family members missing.”

Budhram said a torrential downpour Monday evening caused the Umsunduzi River and several of its tributaries to suddenly surge into nearby shantytowns, leaving hundreds homeless on Christmas Day. Many of the shacks and their occupants, as well as cars and trees, were washed away before the flood waters subsided Tuesday.

“If it doesn’t rain again, we think the worst is over,” Budhram said. Greater Pietermaritzburg was declared a disaster area.

Rescue teams working from boats and a military helicopter pulled survivors from rooftops and trees, while divers and police dogs helped volunteers search the riverbanks for more bodies. Relief operations and communications were hampered by heavy damage to local roads and power lines, however.

“Everything possible is being done to help the survivors,” Budhram said. “Tents are being provided, and the communities are also helping.”

The rivers were high from several weeks of heavy rain that has caused havoc at the height of the holiday and tourist season. The unusual downpours have washed away bridges and roads, caused mudslides in mountain areas, flooded several communities and resulted in numerous deaths across the country.

Several low-lying areas in the Johannesburg region were ordered evacuated Tuesday after the Vaal and Olifants rivers were reported at flood stage. In Eastern Cape province, police said a truck was washed away while crossing a bridge over a river that had been dry for three years.

Indeed, reservoirs have been filled so high in some areas that officials said they were considering lifting or reducing water restrictions imposed on most of the country to counter one of the worst droughts in recent memory. Farmers predicted bumper yields of corn, groundnuts and sunflowers, among other crops, after several years of sharply falling production.

Poor rain for the past four years has affected agriculture in at least seven nations in southern Africa, battering their already weak economies and requiring massive imports of food and seeds from the United Nations and foreign aid donors.

The heavy rain has added to the hazard of driving on South Africa’s roads during the holiday season. Officials said Tuesday that at least 615 people had been killed in road accidents since Nov. 30.