Thulani Mpofu, Business Times Special Correspondent
South Africa's weather service has issued its highest warning for its
north-eastern Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces in the path of a tropical
cyclone expected to bring strong winds and rain Monday.
The cyclone has already killed at least eight people in southern Africa.
Up to 200 millimeters of rain in 24 hours has caused flooding, road damage and power outages. Entry to the country's largest animal sanctuary, Kruger National Park, was closed after roads and bridges were washed away and trees downed.
"More heavy rain expected Monday. This will cause serious strain on emergency services. Take extreme caution in these areas," the weather service said late Sunday.
Meanwhile, the cyclone has hit other southern African countries - for the second time this month. The cyclone affected hundreds of thousands, destroyed infrastructure and killed at least eight people.
Tropical Cyclone Eloise weakened into a tropical storm as it moved further west into Zimbabwe and South Africa and then to Mozambique's southwest Sunday.
However, winds, heavy rain and flooding killed people and damaged
infrastructure.
It struck Madagascar in the Indian Ocean Jan. 19 before heading westward - gaining strength over the Mozambican Channel and making landfall in Mozambique early Saturday with wind speeds of up to 160 kilometers an hour (100 miles an hour), according to Mozambique's National Institute of Meteorology.
Up to 250 millimeters (10 inches) of rain was received in parts of the country.
In Mozambique, the National Institute for Disaster Management and
Risk Reduction said in a preliminary report Sunday the cyclone had caused at
least four deaths, injured 12 and affected 163,000 people across four
provinces. About 4,000 houses and 11 hospitals were destroyed.
There has been "mild damage but it is too early to quantify the
extent and scale of destruction," institute president Luisa Meque told
Mozambique's national broadcaster.
In Zimbabwe, head of the Civil Protection Unit Nathan Nkomo told Business Times, 267 people were evacuated in eastern Chipinge
district near the border with Mozambique.
"So far, three people have drowned after heavy rains were received
in Chipinge," he said.
Zimbabwe Meteorological Services Department forecaster James Ngoma said three eastern districts received downpours ranging from 50 millimeters and 97 millimeters between Saturday and Sunday. "This resulted in flooding and destruction of infrastructure and property," he said.
Earlier in Madagascar, the National Office for Risk and Disaster Management reported the storm had killed one person, directly affected 1,000 and destroyed more than 50 homes in four north-eastern districts.
