Heavy rains have cut off the main road from the South African border to Windhoek after the southern Namibian town of Mariental was flooded at the weekend, officials said on Monday.
More than 2 000 people were evacuated from their homes in the town, about 280km south of Windhoek, and supply trucks from South Africa have been left stranded outside the town, said town spokesperson Catherine Boois.
The only route out of the town with its population of 14 000 is a 100km detour via a gravel road, which is dangerously muddy due to the heavy rains.
”Some 50 supply trucks from South Africa are stranded just south of Mariental, as the national road is flooded,” Boois said.
”Members of the Namibia Defence Force and the police were sent to Mariental to help evacuate people with military vehicles and by boat, and 2 100 people whose houses were flooded were put up in the two schools on Saturday and Sunday,” she said.
High rainfall in the past week forced authorities to open the sluice gates of the Hardap Dam on the Fish River, north-west of the town.
Mariental experienced similiar floods five years ago.
”It rained for 24 hours over the weekend. Within 12 hours the dam received inflow of 2 500 cubic metres per second from the catchment areas, raising its level from 82% to 110% on Saturday,” said Arno du Plessis, general manger of water supply at the Namibia Water Corporation. — Sapa-AFP