THE South African Weather Services has warned that various parts of the Kruger National Park (KNP) which experienced heavy flooding this week will continue to receive rainfall in the coming week.
SA National Parks which manages the park said disaster management teams in the park and external role players are on alert and monitoring the impact of this rainfall.
The Sanparks this week carried out evacuation operations to assist guests who were staying at Lower Sabie, Talamati, Crocodile Bridge and Biyamiti with available safe passage out of the park.
The organisation warned that this is an evacuation route, and no guests will be able to travel through to those camps.
“Guests with bookings at affected camps are advised to amend their dates through Central Reservations number 012 428 9111.
There were no injuries or fatalities suffered during this week where rivers burst their banks and numerous facilities in the park were flooded. However the Sanparks reported an an incident wherein a tourist vehicle got stuck in the water at one of the bridges in the Park.
“We would like to once again urge guests not to attempt to cross any bridges that are overflowing as the dangers of being washed away remain high. Guests are further advised not to open or travel on any roads which have been closed and not to use gravel road. As a precautionary measure, the teams have closed gravel roads in the south as well as flagged camps (Talamati, Lower Sabie, Crocodile Bridge and Biyamiti) since the fall of heavy rains in the evening of 8 February 2023.
“Meanwhile emergency teams are also closely monitoring the situation in the northern part of the park as rivers have also started rising in various parts of Limpopo Province,” said the KNP Managing Executive, Oscar Mthimkhulu.
The Lower Sabie, Biyamiti, Crocodile Bridge and Talamati camps were closed while the rest remained open. All gates and ports of entry remained open except the Crocodile Bridge gate in the far south which was closed due to the flooding of the Crocodile river.
“We request tourists to be extra cautious during this period and to call our emergency number for any assistance only on 076 801 9679 or 013 735 0197/4064. We will also continue to update the public through mainstream as well as social media platforms in order to ensure guests are informed. We encourage those who have access to social media platforms to also assist by posting valuable updates on SANParks – Kruger National Park Facebook group,” said Mthimkhulu.
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