Severe flooding triggered by weeks of torrential rain has killed more than 100 people across southern Africa, with Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe among the worst-affected countries, authorities said on Friday.

Army helicopters were deployed in South Africa to rescue residents stranded on rooftops and in trees, while hundreds of tourists and workers were evacuated from Kruger National Park, one of the world’s largest game reserves, as rivers burst their banks and infrastructure collapsed.

Mozambique has borne the brunt of the disaster. The country’s Institute for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction said at least 103 people have died since late last year during an unusually severe rainy season. The toll includes deaths caused by flooding, lightning strikes, infrastructure collapse and cholera.

More than 200,000 people have been affected across Mozambique’s central and southern provinces, with thousands of homes damaged and tens of thousands facing evacuation, according to the World Food Program (WFP). The agency said the flooding has compounded existing vulnerabilities in the impoverished country, which has been hit by several destructive cyclones in recent years.

In neighboring South Africa, officials said the death toll from floods in the northern provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga had risen to at least 30, with rescue operations still underway. The South African army said helicopters were used to evacuate civilians, as well as police and border officials trapped at a checkpoint along the South Africa–Zimbabwe border.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, who visited flood-hit areas in Limpopo on Thursday, said the province received around 400 millimeters of rain in less than a week. “In one district there are 36 houses that have just been wiped away from the face of the Earth,” he said.

Limpopo Premier Phophi Ramathuba said more than 1,000 houses were damaged across the province, many of them completely washed away. Extensive damage was also reported in Mpumalanga, where roads and bridges were destroyed.

Zimbabwe’s disaster management agency said at least 70 people have died since the start of the year, with more than 1,000 homes destroyed and schools, roads and bridges damaged by flooding.

Flooding has also affected Madagascar, Malawi and Zambia. The United States’ Famine Early Warning System warned that floods were reported or expected in at least seven southern African countries, possibly linked to the La Niña weather phenomenon, which often brings heavier rainfall to southeastern Africa.

South Africa’s Weather Service has issued red-level alerts, its highest warning, for parts of Mpumalanga, cautioning that more destructive rains and flooding could follow.

Kruger National Park, spanning about 22,000 square kilometers across Limpopo and Mpumalanga, has been severely affected. Park authorities said around 600 tourists and staff were evacuated to higher ground, and the park has been closed to new visitors. While no deaths or injuries were reported inside the park, several camps and facilities were flooded and some areas remain completely cut off.

The WFP said the floods have also worsened food insecurity, with more than 70,000 hectares of crops in Mozambique — including rice and maize — submerged, threatening the livelihoods of thousands of small-scale farmers.

Southern Africa has faced a series of extreme weather events in recent years, ranging from deadly cyclones to prolonged droughts, underscoring the region’s growing vulnerability to climate-related disasters.