(Bloomberg) -- South Africa declared floods that killed more than 300 people in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province a disaster, enabling the government to free up funds to assist with reconstruction in the area.

The heaviest rainfall in at least six decades this week caused landslides, interrupted port operations, damaged roads and washed away houses. At least 306 people died as a result of the floods, KwaZulu-Natal’s Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs department said in a statement.

The official classification of the events as a provincial disaster was announced in the Government Gazette by Mmaphaka Tau, head of the National Disaster Management Centre, late on Wednesday.

Damage to the Port of Durban, the nation’s biggest, forced A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S to close its offices at the harbor. The flooding also affected the operations of mobile-phone operators MTN Group Ltd. and Vodacom Group Ltd., paper company Sappi Ltd. Insurers Old Mutual Ltd. and Santam Ltd. said they are assessing the extent of the destruction.

More rain is forecast in KwaZulu-Natal this weekend, with the risk of localized flooding and strong, damaging winds, according to the South African Weather Service.

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