The Eastern Cape government says the death toll in the province following the floods earlier has risen to 49, among them are four pupils whose bus was swept away.

The province’s premier, Oscar Mabuyane said the toll is set to rise as more and more figures come through from the police.

He added that the situation on the ground is bad. The most affected areas are found in the OR Tambo and Amathole districts.

“As of now, as we are seated here, the stats have escalated to 49 as per the South African Police Services. So, as we said, the numbers are just escalating an hour after hour. So, the situation is so bad on the ground,” Mabuyane said, adding that it’s a moving target as the stats change often to the extent that they have no idea how many people are still missing.

According to the provincial government, over the past two days, the heavy and perennial downpours have led to devastating flooding and landslides, resulting in multiple fatalities and significant damage to property and infrastructure.

A combined multi-disciplinary emergency services team has been established and continues to search for the school bus that was swept away with school children on Tuesday morning.

Hundreds of people have been displaced and are housed in different community halls, while in Amathole district, more than 200 people have been relocated from Sikiti Informal Settlement to A.B. Bam Primary School, with hundreds of people from Eugene and Zithulele Informal Settlements housed at Butterworth Town Hall.

There are also reports of crippling power outages in some areas due to the torrential rains in both district municipalities.