At least 12 people died Tuesday as floods hit South Africa, where a state of emergency was declared as heavy rains hit several parts of the country, including the famous Kruger Park.
The death toll this Tuesday will add to the seven casualties of the previous day, according to the French news agency France-Presse (AFP), and the state of natural disaster has already covered seven of the country’s nine provinces, south to south. – African Sahara and countries bordering Mozambique, where heavy rains also fall in the south.
“It looks like the province of Mpumalanga (North East) is the hardest hit so far, and the situation in the Kruger Park is not good at all,” Disaster Management spokesman Lungi Mtskhali told AFP.
The country’s largest 2 million-hectare national park is crossed by several rivers, most of which have been inundated since the weekend, according to the National Institute of Weather Forecasting (SAWS).
“Trips in the park are limited because some roads are damaged, but the situation is still manageable,” Isaac Phaala, a spokesman for the National Parks Agency (SanPark), told AFP, adding that several camps in the reserve have been evacuated as a precaution. Last few days.
After the sudden downpours that interrupted the summer in South Africa, the forecast for the coming days is not encouraging at all, with the forecast indicating more precipitation, with the aggravating factor that the rivers and land are already saturated with water, which, according to SAWS meteorologist Puseletso Mofokeng, will lead to new floods, at least until the end of the week.
South Africa experienced the worst flooding in its history last year, mostly affecting Durban, the country’s third-largest city and major port, where heavy rains caused massive landslides and mud that swept away people, bridges, roads and even entire buildings.
In 2022, these hurricanes killed more than 400 people and affected more than 85,000.