Tourists evacuated as Skukuza battered by hail storm

Six tourists were evacuated from their battered tents after an intense hail storm lashed Skukuza in the Kruger National Park late on Sunday.

Giant balls of hail smashed windows and stripped the foliage off trees.

“There is a lot of damage in the village where staff stays. Windows are broken and in some cases roofs damaged‚” said SANParks spokesperson William Mabasa.

“We did evacuate six tourists last night who were camping and their tents could not take the hail. We moved them into the available bungalows‚” he said on Monday.

What was meant to be a “magical evening” took a turn when there was a bit of thunder followed by the storm at around 7:30pm‚ Joep Stevens wrote on the SANParks-Kruger National Park Facebook page.

“That's nature‚ I guess! Even the warthogs rudely kicked out of their burrow due to storm water and now trying to find some warmth around the office block‚” he added.

“Many long-time residents of Skukuza indicated never has it experienced such a severe hailstorm. Many windows out‚ much damage to cars and caravans.”

ReenvalSA tweeted pictures of the aftermath sent in by Zacharias Johannes Prinsloo.

Infinite Africa Safaris (Pty) Ltd posted on Facebook: “Devastating hailstorm in Skukuza. Many cars and caravans damaged and windows smashed: one of the worst hail-storms to hit. Lots of rain reported from Lower Sabie as well‚ and this in the heart of the dry season.”