480 Homeless After Heavy Rains in Mozambique

Nearly 500 people were flooded out of their homes in Mozambique’s capital after a tropical depression brought torrential rain and high winds, city officials said Wednesday.

In neighboring South Africa, the flagship Kruger National Park was affected during the busy summer season.

The homeless in Mozambique were being sheltered in schools, churches and even on sports fields, city officials said. In the southern Inhambane province, officials said roofs were blown off 71 classrooms, seven teachers’ homes and two offices at a school. In neighboring Gaza province, 40 small homes were swept away and 1,000 goats were killed.

Mozambique’s National Operational Emergency Center said tropical depression Dando had now dissipated after two days of destroying homes, downing power lines and causing other damage in Maputo and other southern areas. No deaths were reported.

In South Africa, helicopters were used to evacuate guests from one private lodge and a trail in Kruger, which borders Mozambique, park officials said in a statement Wednesday. Flooding has made some roads and low-lying bridges inaccessible and several camping sites and a picnic area were closed, they added.