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It looks ominous hey?

All the dams in the Gauteng area bar the Vaal dam are 100% full. The "Harties" is sluicing into the Croc River this very moment and it's quite an awesome sight!

One ill directed cloud burst could make things very interesting.

The Olifants was already flowing strongly on the 12 and 13th of Jan.
On the 12th we went on a night drive from Olifants and crossed the Balule bridge on the way back.
The next morning we went out at about 4:30 and when we got to the Balule bridge it was still wet from the overflowing water and the water was lapping at the top of the bridge.
We stopped on it had coffee and rusks and drove on.
A couple of hours later on our return the bridge was closed with water flowing freely over the bridge.
We spent the rest of the day on the deck at Nshawu looking at the river flowing very strongly.
This was before all the rain from the last week.
I think flooding is very possible at this stage.

Cyclone to hit Mozambique.

Hold on to your horses, Kruger visitors.

Balule Bridge 27-01-2008

Oh wow Freda That is amazing! Thanks for the pic!

So much more water since I saw it four weeks ago, it's scary

# 2 was the viewpoint and # 3 the Olifant's Bridge
Patience re the BBW, I have been wwwless due to a lighting strike the night we arrived back, only got back on-line today.

For those who are interested:

After it hit the northern part of Moz as a Cat 3, Cyclone Jokwe went back into the Moz channel. The landfall made it weaker (Cat 1) but due to the warm tropical conditions in the channel it has now increased in strength to a Cat 2. Its current predicted path is south and then west.

Most up-to-date prediction:
Meteo France

Another interesting website to follow this storm (bit behind Meteo France)
Tropical Storm Risk (TSR)

Latest satellite image
Meteo France

Have to admit, it is tad worrying to see Maputo on that map
These systems are however so unpredictable.
We have kept an eye on it from when it moved into northern part of the Moz channels.
What is now a Cat 2 Cyclone, was 24hrs ago predicted to be a Tropical Storm…so they somewhat underestimated it.
But apparently it should decrease in strength when it gets out of the channel due to colder water and side winds …something like that…lot of technical explanations.
If it does make landfall in southern Moz (hopefully only as a weak Tropical Storm or a Tropical Depression) it should at least bring a bit of rain to the southern parts of Kruger.
The rainy season started out so well but then in February we only had 7 mm of rain for the whole month (measured at our house in Marloth)…the bush now already resembles winter times.
If this cyclone however increase in strength and hit southern Moz as a Cat 3, as it was when in brushed past the northern coast, there is a whole lot of rain on the way….in northern Moz. the city of Nampula, that is 150 km inland, had 200 mm of rain.

I am busy watching the 2000 floods video of the park right now for the first time.
Its the scariest thing thing I've ever seen.
The devastation was tremendous.
They saved one guy from a pack of wild dogs.
He had to stand on one of the road markers.
At 4 pm the water was at the highest levels.
Some waves were 9 or ten meters high.
Many houses in the villages was only visible by their roofs.
You could see at some places where the Sabie was almost 2 kilometres wide.
The restaurant was submerged up to the lowest point of the roof and many roofs of bungalows was gone.
If you know how high the Selati bridges is, the water ran about one metre below it.
A sad truth is that more than 90 percent of people had no insurance.
People had to start from scratch again. And all the memories like photos is gone.
Furniture was picked up until well beyond Lower Sabie

If all goes well, I will sell it im my shop from next week. Pm me if you want one, and Ill send one.
I will get into contact with all the others that wants one who pmd me previously

I remember my dad had to tow in a Germany fellow Land Rover that was swept away by the floods at Skukuza that night it all came down.
After the river "toned" down away from the restaurant they walked up and down the railings to look for the Landy.
My stepmother eventually spotted the the wheel axe in the water and it was almost a km from where it was to where the found it, total write off with a baby croc inside .
It's amazing when I saw his DVD of it.
Whenever we drive around the Skukuza area I still the some of the huge trees still on the river banks that was taken out by that floods.

Whacktazz at Nhkulu Picnic spot is selling a video made my SANHU on the flood. It is really worth purchasing. It runs for about 30min with interviews with those involved in the rescues and with those who lost so many possessions.

Amazing to see the masses of water that flowed through the park.

What is also amazing is to see how Kruger was restored, at great expense, with little evidence now of this great flood.

As they say in the video, the flood that changed the face of Kruger.

Yes it will happen again, maybe not as high, or maybe even higher. Nobody knows when though.

If you go to crooks corner you pass a building which shows the level the floods have reached over the years. I have a photo somewhere. Will see if I can find it