Disaster declared as Kruger National Park among flooded regions

Heavy rain and flooding in tourism areas including the Kruger National Park has seen the South African Government declare a state of disaster.

The response came after ongoing catastrophic weather has ravaged multiple provinces mainly in the north of the country since late December 2025, local media reported. 

The declaration came after weeks of torrential rain, lightning, and damaging winds that have devastated Limpopo, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape, and the North West.

It was confirmed in a statement by Dr Elias Sithole, head of the National Disaster Management Centre,

IOL online reported. 

"I regard this occurrence as a disaster and, in terms of Section 23(1)(b) of the Disaster Management Act, 2002. I classify the disaster as a national disaster," Sithole said. 

He noted that the severe weather has "resulted in the loss of life, damage to property, infrastructure and the environment, as well as the disruption of basic services."

Sithole has called upon all organs of state to "further strengthen their support to the disaster management structures" and to ensure that contingency plans are fully activated to deal with the ongoing effects of the floods.

The worst impact is in the northern provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga, where the fatalities occurred, as well as in parts of neighbouring Mozambique and Zimbabwe. 

Tourism drawcard the Kruger National Park was closed and Hoedspruit, the airport that serves the wildlife zone, shut down. 

The park is one the biggest game reserves in the world. 

Image: Kruger National Park, Winsor Dobbin   

Vietnam resorts target quick recovery after natural disasters

Some of Vietnam's leading tourist destination are racing to be ready for high season after after weeks of relentless rain and flooding.

The weather left historic cities in Central Vietnam submerged, mountain passes closed by landslides, and at least 55 people dead across six provinces, news hub Travel Mole reports.

As waters finally began to recede in parts of the region over the weekend, the scale of the devastation became clear. 

The popular city of Hoi An has been flooded three times within a month time.

The ancient UNESCO-listed town saw layers of mud coating its once-bustling walking streets after floodwaters retreated from the Hoai River.

Clean-up crews, armed with excavators and water tankers, fanned out across the town to scrape away sludge from sidewalks and shopfronts.

The middle section of popular Bach Dang Street, however, remained under about 40 centimetres of water.

Authorities have prioritized clearing the stretch from Chau Thuong Van to the iconic Pagoda Bridge to bring visitors back as quickly as possible.

Tourist boats continued to operate along the Hoai River even as workers raked mud into piles, removed debris, and pushed it back toward the river channel.

In coastal Nha Trang, entire neighbourhoods were submerged last week,

Deadly landslides ripped through highland routes near the Da Lat tourist hub, where hotel operators said bookings evaporated almost overnight as storms intensified.

Viet Nam Railways Corporation (VNR) on Friday announced the continued suspension of multiple passenger services departing from Hanoi, Danang and Ho Chi Minh City, as widespread flooding in the south-central region persists.

International airports were operating normally despite some flight delays.

The environment ministry said 55 people have died, with 13 still missing. More than 300,000 people remained without power over the weekend.

Image: Hoi An, Shirren Lee, Scop.io  

Vietnam flood alert as tourists evacuated

Thinking of heading to Central Vietnam over the next few weeks?

Maybe do some research first as the weather could play havoc with your plans during storm season.

Travellers visiting the region, including Danang, Hue and Hoi An, have been advised by Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) to be wary of possible disruptions due to major flooding and power outages, following heavy rainfall in the region.

Some tourists were evacuated by boat from Hoi An this week and re-located to other hotels after the Hoai River rose by two metres.

The heavy rain has turned Hoi An’s ancient streets into rivers. 

Reuters reported the floods had killed at least nine people and left five missing. 

As locals rushed to save their belongings in Hoi An, they started relying on boats instead of motorbikes, since parts of the historic town remain buried beneath two metres of water.

As water from the Thu Bon and Vu Gia rivers spilled over their banks, entire communes near Danang were cut off, local media reported.

Weather forecasts suggest heavy rains and floods will continue in the coming days.

Mai Van Khiem, director of the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, reported intense downpours across Hue, Danang, and neighbouring central provinces.

Khiem said the extreme weather resulted from a combination of a low-level cold air mass, an intensifying intertropical convergence zone moving northward, and strong easterly winds at altitudes of 1,500 to 5,000 meters - a typical pattern behind prolonged downpours in central Vietnam.

Khiem warned that central Vietnam may experience multiple rainstorms through mid-December, particularly from Ha Tinh to Danang, Khanh Hoa, and eastern parts of Quang Ngai to Dak Lak.

Image: Vietnamnet.vn 

Major airline offers big apology

As it clears a backlog of around 30,000 delayed bags, Emirates Airline has issued a rare fulsome apology for its failings.

Airline president Sir Tim Clark admitted that the airline had let down its customers through a lack of contingency planning after the United Arab Emirates was last week hit by storms and unprecedented flooding.

"I would like to offer our most sincere apologies to every customer who has had their travel plans disrupted during this time," Clark said.

"On Tuesday, April 16, the UAE experienced its highest rainfall in 75 years.

"Lashing storm winds and rain disrupted activity across the cities. Our 24/7 hub in Dubai remained open, with flight movements reduced for safety, but flooded roads impeded the ability of our customers, pilots, cabin crew, and airport employees to reach the airport, and also the movement of essential supplies like meals and other flight amenities.

"We diverted dozens of flights to avoid the worst of the weather on Tuesday, and over the next three days we had to cancel nearly 400 flights and delay many more, as our hub operations remained challenged by staffing and supply shortages."

The chaos extended to suspending check-in for passengers departing Dubai, implementing an embargo on ticket sales, and temporarily halting connecting passenger traffic from points across the network coming into Dubai.

"We sent over 100 employee volunteers to look after disrupted customers at Dubai Airport departures and in the transit area, prioritising medical cases, the elderly and other vulnerable travellers," Clark said.

"To date, over 12,000 hotel rooms were secured to accommodate disrupted customers in Dubai, 250,000 meal vouchers have been issued, and more quantities of drinking water, blankets, and other amenities."

But a lot of customers were extremely unhappy that Emirates had no plans to deal with the chaos and were left to fend for themselves in the airport. .

"We have put together a taskforce to sort, reconcile, and deliver some 30,000 pieces of left-behind baggage to their owners," Clark said.

"We know our response has been far from perfect. We acknowledge and understand the frustration of our customers due to the congestion, lack of information, and confusion in the terminals. We acknowledge that the long queues and wait times have been unacceptable."

Among the stranded baggage was that of Australians en route to Gallipoli for Anzac Day events. 

Personally, I'm not surprised. A while back I need information and help from Emirates' PR team. The response was underwhelming and I vowed to avoid them, where possible, in the future.

A very soggy weekend for Tasmania

Visiting Tasmania this weekend? It may be a little soggy.

Heavy rain over the past few days has caused washaways, flooding and road closures right across the state.

Tasmania Parks and Wildlife have advised a number of areas and tracks have been closed due to the extreme weather conditions.

The following areas currently are closed:

 
Moulting Lagoon Campsite
Douglas Apsley National Park
Lake Augusta Road
Mount Barrow State Reserve lower shelter and picnic area
Arm River Regional Reserve
Little Beach Conservation Area
Mole Creek Caves
Cloudy Bay Campground
Meander Falls Road, Mother Cummings Rivulet
Patons Road, Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair
Liffey Falls Campground
Devils Gullet Lookout
Yeates Track, Great Western Tiers
Liffey Falls day use area and Riversdale Road
Tamar Island Wetlands

But there is some good news. Parks and Wildlife have completed assessments and have reopened the following tourism areas.

Hastings Caves: walking tracks are open, pool remains closed; Aquatic Point - Trevallyn Nature Recreation Area, Notley Gorge, Holwell Gorge and Ralphs Falls and Mt Victoria Road (open to 4WDs only).

Check here for the latest update: https://parks.tas.gov.au/explore-our-parks/know-before-you-go/alerts 

Broke bouncing back after devastating floods

The Broke Fordwich wine region in the Hunter Valley suffered unprecedented flooding last last week, but many local businesses are preparing to re-open this weekend: July 15-17.

The flood of July 6 was the worst flood in the 198-year history of the village, devastating the township and its people, with over 50 houses having been severely impacted by the disaster. The image above shows the inundated Margan Estate vines.

Local businesses, including winery cellar doors, restaurants and accommodation, are urging people to show support and visit the region this weekend and in coming weeks.

Local winemaker Andrew Margan, who with wife Lisa runs Margan Estate, said the region has been severely impacted by the damage and is asking for support:

“The community of Broke, government bodies, and all of the people who have been on the ground helping to try and put our wonderful community back together again can only do so much,” he says.

“We urge people to come and visit the cellar doors and restaurants, buy wines online or in retail outlets. We are also asking for donations via our community GOFUND ME with 100% of funds going directly to those left without homes and insurance policies that don’t cover flood damage.”

The Broke Disaster Relief team is working in partnership with Resilience NSW to raise much needed funds for flood-affected families.

Visitors are asked to be mindful that the actual township of Broke is accessible only to residents. All the restaurants and cellar doors of the area are outside the village and will be accessible by the weekend.

While access to Broke is unaffected from Pokolbin via Cessnock Road, the road from Singleton to Broke is damaged and closed until further notice. Guests travelling from Singleton can access Broke via Hermitage Rd Pokolbin and also via Bulga and Milbrodale Road.

Learn more about Broke HERE, via a Hunter Valley Wine & Tourism Association video.

Buy wine here: https://www.winecountry.com.au/wine/buy-hunter-valley-wines