Cyclone Freddy fears reduced to ‘disruptive rains’

Kruger Park camps remain open and heavy rains reported as cyclone moves into South Africa

26 February 2023 - 17:50
By Gill Gifford
The SA Weather Service has warned of disruptive rains brought by Cyclone Freddy.
Image: SA Weather Service The SA Weather Service has warned of disruptive rains brought by Cyclone Freddy.

Severe weather alerts across the country have been issued by the SA Weather Service, which issued an orange level 5 warning for disruptive rainfall leading to flooding of roads and settlements, as well as danger to life due to fast-flowing streams expected over the north-eastern parts of the Vhembe district of Limpopo.

A yellow level 2 warning was issued for disruptive rainfall leading to localised flooding of susceptible informal settlements, low-lying roads, and bridges, as well as poor driving conditions due to pooling of water on roads and reduced visibility is expected over the Vhembe and Mopani districts in Limpopo and the Ehlanzeni district in Mpumalanga.

This was topped by extremely high fire danger conditions over the northern parts of the Northern Cape, as well as a heatwave with persistently high temperatures over the Dawid Kruiper and Kai !Garib municipalities in that province.

The country was spared the worst effects of tropical storm Freddy when it weakened over Mozambique, dissipating faster than forecasters initially anticipated.

Researcher Zenaida Machado from Human Rights Watch tweeted that Cyclone Freddy had arrived in Mozambique with no strength.

“But it left behind serious rains across the country. In some places, the rain and floods area testing the quality of some constructions,” he warned, posting photographs of the damage.

The cyclone was expected to bring heavy showers to parts of Limpopo and Mpumalanga.

SANParks announced that it was monitoring Cyclone Freddy, but that the Kruger National Park camps would remain open.

Kruger Sightings tweeted a video of heavy rains at Nkorho, Sabi Sands — but no hotels or lodges reported flooding or having to close.

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