Motoring on
๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฏ ๐๐๐น๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฎ.
At least 461 lives were lost and 87 people are still unaccounted for following the Durban floods in April that devastated homes and livelihoods. The deluge triggered some of the regionโs worst mudslides and swept away people and infrastructure. The premises of the cityโs leading car manufacturer, Toyota, was submerged under a meter of water and, as a result, at least 4000 cars in the lot would eventually be crushed. With thousands of cars exported to Europe each year, and its legendary double cab bakkies rolling into the local market each year, many were worried the multi-national car manufacturer would call it a day. But Toyota persisted, leaning on the expertise of the best engineers and performing hard manual labour with toothbrushes, hairdryers and leaf blowers. Thankfully, its Japanese partners also contributed eyewatering amounts of money to help with the recovery. Carte Blanche gets the inside view of an extraordinary clawback from devastation. Having almost reached the finish line, we ask: how did they do it?