A level 10 warning has been issued by the South African Weather Service (Saws) for Limpopo and Mpumalanga.
The forecast for the next 24–48 hours indicates that heavy rainfall of about 100mm, up to 200mm, is possible over parts of the two provinces.
Most affected are the Maruleng and Ba-Phalaborwa local municipalities, Nkomazi local municipality, City of Mbombela, Bushbuckridge local municipality, Greater Giyani, Greater Tzaneen, Greater Letaba and the Collins Chabane districts.
“These additional rainfall amounts are expected to fall over already saturated catchments, which will exacerbate existing widespread flooding,” Saws cautioned.
The Letaba rest camp in the Kruger National Park was being evacuated on Thursday, and day-visitor access has been suspended until conditions improve.
SANParks said water from the Letaba River had overflowed into the rest camp.
Residents are urged to avoid fast-flowing rivers and streams and to avoid roads, bridges and low-lying crossings that are under water
The Phalaborwa gate will also close for at least 24 hours, meaning there is no access into the northern parts of the park for now.
Explaining its reasons for the decision to block day visitor access, SANParks said earlier this week several day visitors were unable to exit the park after a bridge at Crocodile Bridge Gate was covered by water because of rising river levels.
“While all affected visitors were safely managed, the incident highlighted the risks posed by the ongoing weather conditions. SANParks is mindful of the current strain on operational and emergency responses on resources during this period of persistent rainfall. As such, the organisation would prefer to focus available resources on real emergencies and ensuring the safety of guests, staff, and surrounding communities, rather than avoidable incidents linked to non-essential travel within the park.”
The Saws warning was escalated to level 10 due to the combination of high amounts of rainfall already accumulated over the past several days and the expectation of further heavy rainfall.
“The risk of widespread flooding remains critically high,” it said.
Residents are urged to avoid fast-flowing rivers and streams and to avoid roads, bridges and low-lying crossings that are under water.
Weather conditions are expected to gradually improve from around January 19, when the forecast for showers and thundershowers drops to a 30% likelihood.
“More stable conditions are expected from January 20 onwards, with minimal chances of further rainfall, allowing river levels and saturated soils to slowly recede.”
TimesLIVE
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