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STORY: After two years of tourists staying away because of the global health crisis, South African resorts along the popular eastern Indian Ocean coastline were hoping for a bumper Easter weekend.

But torrential rain last week triggered floods and mudslides, killing more than 440 people in and around Durban.

Eugene Naidu owns a holiday home near the city.

''In Durban we needed the funding and the tourists back. So we were getting there. So, I mean, these rains caused havoc."

Some hotels had a third of bookings canceled and others were forced to close during what is normally the second-busiest time of the year.

Provincial authorities say they were expecting around 360,000 arrivals, but got less than half of that.

Tourism remains a big employer in South Africa- which has over 30% unemployment.

"We had a huge bank (of earth) that collapsed behind the building. With regards to loss of income, part of the building is permanent residence, and then some are holiday homes, and then some are apartments that we let out. So you're looking at loss of income for people that are renting out, I mean, you're looking at an average of about 20,000 (South African rand - $1,340) a month."

Africa's southeastern coast is on the front line of seaborne storm systems that are being worsened by global warming.

Scientists predict storms will get much worse in coming decades.