More than 100 dead in torrential rains and floods across southern Africa
[January 17, 2026]
By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME, MICHELLE GUMEDE and GERALD IMRAY
NKOMAZI, South Africa (AP) — Army helicopters rescued people stranded on
rooftops and hundreds of tourists and workers were evacuated from one of
the world’s biggest game reserves, as torrential rains and flooding in
three countries in southern Africa killed more than 100 people,
authorities said Friday.
The death toll across South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe is an
accumulation after weeks of heavy rains. Weather services issued
warnings that more rain was on the way, possibly bringing more
destructive flooding.
More than 200,000 people affected in Mozambique
Mozambique was the hardest hit, with flooding across swathes of the
country's central and southern provinces. Its Institute for Disaster
Management and Risk Reduction said 103 people had died in an unusually
severe rainy season since late last year, though that count included
deaths from various causes including electrocution from lightning
strikes, drowning in floods, infrastructure collapse caused by the
severe weather and cholera, the institute said.
More than 200,000 people have been affected in Mozambique, thousands of
homes have been damaged and tens of thousands face evacuation, the World
Food Program said of another crisis in a poor country with limited
resources that has faced several damaging cyclones in the last few
years.
In neighboring South Africa, officials said Friday the death toll from
floods in two northern provinces had risen to at least 30, with rescue
efforts ongoing.
Zimbabwe’s disaster management agency said that 70 people have died and
more than 1,000 homes have been destroyed in heavy rains since the
beginning of the year, while infrastructure including schools, roads and
bridges collapsed. Flooding has also hit the island nation of Madagascar
as well as Malawi and Zambia.
The United States’ Famine Early Warning System said flooding was
reported or expected in at least seven southern African nations,
possibly due to the presence of the La Nina weather phenomenon that can
bring heavy rains to parts of southeastern Africa.
The army is deployed in South Africa
The South African army was using helicopters to pluck people to safety
as they took refuge on rooftops or in trees in the northern Limpopo
province. The army also had to rescue police officers and border control
officers from a checkpoint on the South Africa-Zimbabwe border, it said.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa visited flood-stricken areas in
Limpopo on Thursday and said that region had received around 400
millimeters (more than 15 inches) of rain in less than a week. He said
that in one district he visited “there are 36 houses that have just been
wiped away from the face of the Earth."
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A woman stands outside a flooded house in Nkomazi, Mpumalanga
Province, South Africa, on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alfonso
Nqunjana)
Limpopo Premier Phophi Ramathuba said more than 1,000 houses were
damaged across the province, with many of them washed away entirely.
“It's so terrible,” she said.
There was also extensive damage in Mpumalanga province, where roads
and bridges were damaged or destroyed. In the Nkomazi Municipality
near the border with Mozambique, residents were trying to repair the
damage in their flooded homes and yards — and bracing for more
extreme weather after the South African Weather Service issued a
red-level 10 alert for more destructive rains and floods for that
part of the country, the highest warning level.
“I am still terrified that the rains will return as these were the
worst rains I have seen in this area," said Nkomazi resident
Josephina Mashaba.
Tourists and staff evacuated at Kruger park
South Africa's renowned Kruger National Park, which covers some
22,000 square kilometers (7,722 square miles) across Limpopo and
Mpumalanga provinces, has been affected by severe flooding. Around
600 tourists and staff members have been evacuated from camps to
high-lying areas in the park, park spokesperson Reynold Thakhuli
said.
He couldn’t immediately say how many people there were in the park,
which has been closed to new visitors after several rivers burst
their banks and flooded camps, restaurants and other areas. The
national parks agency said precautions were being taken and no
deaths or injuries had been reported at Kruger, but parts of the
park were completely cut off by the floods.
Southern Africa has experienced a series of extreme weather events
in recent years, including devastating cyclones that killed
thousands across several countries and a scorching drought that
caused a food crisis in parts of a region that often suffers food
shortages.
The World Food Program said more than 70,000 hectares (about 173,000
acres) of crops in Mozambique, including staples such as rice and
corn, have been waterlogged in the current flooding, worsening food
insecurity for thousands of small-scale farmers who rely on their
harvests for food.
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Gumede reported from Johannesburg and Imray from Cape Town, South
Africa. Associated Press writers Charles Mangwiro in Maputo,
Mozambique, and Farai Mutsaka in Harare, Zimbabwe, contributed to
this report.
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