At least 49 people have died as a result of flooding that swept through one of South Africa’s poorest provinces, while officials warned the death toll could rise as search operations for the missing continue.

The floods hit the Eastern Cape province — a mostly rural area in the southeast of the country — following extreme weather conditions that brought heavy rainfall, storm-force winds, and even snowfall in some regions.

Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane said: “This is one of the worst weather-related disasters the province has ever seen... I’ve never seen anything like it before.”