Heavy rain lashed several parts of KwaZulu-Natal, leaving 21 people injured and hundreds homeless.

Heavy rain lashed several parts of KwaZulu-Natal, leaving 21 people injured and hundreds homeless.

Trees were uprooted, roads and low bridges swept away and nearly 100 homes destroyed. The rain lasted several hours on Sunday night.

MEC for cooperative governance and traditional affairs Nomusa Dube, who is also the province's head of disaster management, has activated disaster management response teams in all the affected areas.

"Teams have been deployed to dispatch immediate relief," she said.

Dube said the hardest hit areas were the municipalities of Ingwe, particularly areas like Bulwer, Kwelibomvana, Nongaqu, Deepdale, Bethlehem, Chibini and Nkumba.

"Preliminary assessments indicate that at least 50 houses were blown away in Ingwe alone," she said.

In the Umshwathi municipality 30 houses were destroyed, particularly in KwaSwayimane, while four people had to be rushed to the local clinic for treatment of injuries.

In Ndwedwe the municipality reported that at least two wards were affected. Ukhahlamba municipality in Bergville also logged incidents of people affected and help is being rendered.

Yesterday communities were hard at work mopping up after the devastating downpour. In areas close to big towns, local businesses came to the support of victims, providing food and clothing. In some areas victims were being housed in local churches.