JOHANNESBURG, Jan 22 (Reuters) – Damage from severe floods in South Africa’s flagship game reserve Kruger National Park will take years to repair and cost millions of dollars, the environment minister said on Thursday.
South African authorities temporarily closed the park last week after several rivers that run through it burst their banks as a result of heavy rains. The park is one of South Africa’s main draws for local and foreign tourists.
Fifteen tourist camps are still closed, with some completely inaccessible, Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Willie Aucamp said. Hundreds of people had been evacuated and no lives were lost.
The damage is still being assessed but repairs are estimated to cost more than 500 million rand ($30 million).
“The recent floods that we’ve experienced have had a devastating effect on the park,” Aucamp told Reuters. “The indication is that it will take as long as five years to repair all the bridges and roads and other infrastructure.”
Reuters journalists reached the park last week, finding bridges completely submerged under rushing water, with hippos seen swimming among treetops.
Park officials have said they are not too worried about the fate of animals that instinctively move to high ground to escape the floods, although they have warned people living nearby to be careful about crocodiles swept beyond their usual habitats.
Flooding in southeastern Africa has become more frequent and severe as climate change makes storms in the adjacent Indian Ocean more powerful. Neighbouring Mozambique is also facing devastating floods that have forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes in recent days.
($1 = 16.2147 rand)
(Reporting by Nellie Peyton and Esa AlexanderEditing by Peter Graff)
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