What to know about the devastating floods in southern Africa

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Torrential rains and severe flooding across parts of southern Africa have killed more than 100 people in three countries, destroyed thousands of homes and caused tens of millions of dollars’ worth of damage in one of Africa’s premier wildlife parks.

Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe have experienced unusually heavy rains since late last year and the resulting floods have been the region's worst in years. Authorities expect the death toll to rise with rescue operations continuing.

Here's what to know about the disaster:

More than 30 people have died in the flooding in South Africa and at least 70 in heavy rains in Zimbabwe, its northern neighbor. In Mozambique, 13 deaths have been directly attributed to flooding over the past two weeks, though the actual toll is believed to be higher.

Central and southern parts of Mozambique have been hard hit, with authorities ordering people to evacuate some towns in the southern Gaza province, where the governor says more than 300,000 people have been displaced. More than half a million people across Mozambique have been impacted by the flooding, according to the government.

The Gaza provincial capital of Xai-Xai and the nearby agricultural town of Chokwe have been submerged by the floods, with only the tips of the roofs of buildings visible in some areas. The tourist town of Marracuene, north of the capital, Maputo, is surrounded by water and effectively cut off.

In South Africa, the Kruger National Park, one of Africa's top wildlife parks, has sustained damage amounting to tens of millions of dollars and parts of it have been totally cut off by the flooding, Environment Minister Willie Aucamp said Thursday. He said roads and bridges were washed away, staff and tourist accommodation had been destroyed, and the damage was so severe in the huge park that it will likely take years to fully recover.

A special fund has been set up to rebuild the park, which covers nearly 20,000 square kilometers (7,722 square miles) — nearly the same size as Israel — and often attracts more than 1 million visitors a year. No deaths were reported in the park, though hundreds of tourists and staff were evacuated from flood-stricken areas, some by helicopter.

Kruger officials said the animals generally move to higher areas in times of flooding, but the extent of the impact on the wildlife in the park, which includes critically endangered black rhinos, is not yet clear.

The South African Air Force has deployed helicopters to rescue people stranded in trees and on the tops of buildings in the northern provinces of Mpumalanga and Limpopo. It said it was also conducting cross-border operations to assist in neighboring Mozambique and had rescued nearly 500 stranded people there. The military shared images of some of its rescue operations, which showed people huddled on rooftops surrounded by some of their possessions.

Thousands of homes and other buildings have been destroyed, and South Africa has declared a national disaster.

South African authorities are also concerned about the stability of a dam in the northeast that is under pressure from the flooding and have sent safety engineers to work on it and have ordered evacuations in case it breaches.

Humanitarian agencies say there is now increased hunger and disease, with the extreme weather wiping out crops that millions of small-scale farmers rely on to feed themselves, while the water-borne cholera disease is often a threat following major flooding.

The United Nations Children's Fund said children are especially vulnerable among the more than half a million people affected in Mozambique, with access to clean water, food and healthcare uncertain for those people.

Associated Press writers Charles Mangwiro in Maputo, Mozambique, and Michelle Gumede in Johannesburg contributed to this story.

AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

This image made from video shows the scene after flooding in Tete Province, Mozambique, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo)

Vehicles lineup the flood-damaged N1 road in Maputo province road, Mozambique, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo)

Children wade through floodwaters in a neighborhood in Maputo, Mozambique, on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Carlos Uqueio)

People walk through floodwaters in Nkomazi, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alfonso Nqunjana)

Flood waters cover the Chibuto-Chaimite road in Gaza province, Mozambique, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo)

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — European leaders on Monday said that U.S. President Donald Trump’s snap decision to pull thousands of U.S. troops out of Germany came as a surprise but is a fresh sign that Europe must take care of its own security.

The Pentagon announced last week that it would pull some 5,000 troops out of Germany, but Trump told reporters on Saturday that “we’re going to cut way down. And we’re cutting a lot further than 5,000.”

He offered no reason for the move, which blindsided NATO, but his decision came amid an escalating dispute with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the U.S-Israeli war on Iran, and Trump’s anger that European allies have been reluctant to get involved in the conflict in the Middle East.

Asked about the decision to pull out 5,000 troops from Germany, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said: “I wouldn’t exaggerate that because I think we are expecting that Europe is taking more charge of its own security.

“I do not see those figures as dramatic, but I think they should be handled in a harmonious way inside the framework of NATO,” he told reporters in Yerevan, Armenia, where European leaders are holding a summit.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said “there has been a talk about withdrawal of U.S. troops for a long time from Europe. But of course, the timing of this announcement comes as a surprise.”

“I think it shows that we have to really strengthen the European pillar in NATO,” she said.

Asked whether she believes that Trump is trying to punish Merz, who said that the U.S. has been humiliated by Iran in talks to end the war, Kallas said: “I don’t see into the head of President Trump, so he has to explain it himself.”

Over the weekend, NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said that officials at the 32-nation military alliance “are working with the U.S. to understand the details of their decision on force posture in Germany.”

European allies and Canada have known since just after he came to office again last year that Trump would pull troops out of Europe — indeed some left Romania in October — but U.S. officials had pledged to coordinate any moves with their NATO allies to avoid creating a security vacuum.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte played down the move, saying that “there has been at this point disappointment on the U.S. side” about European support for the war on Iran.

Notably France, Spain and the U.K. have declined to give U.S. forces free rein to use bases on their territory to attack Iran. Spain has denied them the use of its airspace and bases there for the war.

But Rutte, who has championed Trump’s leadership at NATO despite the U.S. president's criticism of the majority of the allies, said: “I would say the Europeans have heard a message. They are now making sure that all the bilateral basing agreements are being implemented.”

Rutte added that European nations “have decided to pre-position assets, key assets, close to the theater for the next phase.”

He provided no details, but the Europeans have insisted they would not help police the Strait of Hormuz, a key energy trade route, until the war is over.

French President Emmanuel Macron said “if the United States is ready to reopen Hormuz, that’s great. That’s what we’ve been asking for since the beginning.” But he underlined that the Europeans are not ready to get involved in any operation “that does not seem clear to us.”

In another sign of friction with Merz, Trump has accused the EU of not complying with its U.S. trade deal and announced plans to increase tariffs next week on cars and trucks produced in the bloc to 25%, a move that would be particularly damaging to Germany, a major automobile manufacturer.

Without mentioning Trump or the United States, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen listed recent trade deals that the bloc has sealed with Australia and India, and is now working on with Mexico.

“With like-minded friends, you have stable, reliable supply chains and Europe has the biggest network of free trade agreements,” von der Leyen, who is from Germany, told reporters.

Cook reported from Brussels.

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks with the media as he arrives for a meeting of the European Political Community in Yerevan, Armenia, Monday, May 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Anthony Pizzoferrato)

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks with the media as she arrives for a meeting of the European Political Community in Yerevan, Armenia, Monday, May 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Anthony Pizzoferrato)

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas speaks with the media as she arrives for a meeting of the European Political Community in Yerevan, Armenia, Monday, May 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Anthony Pizzoferrato)

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte speaks with the media as he arrives for a meeting of the European Political Community in Yerevan, Armenia, Monday, May 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Anthony Pizzoferrato)

Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store speaks with the media as he arrives for a meeting of the European Political Community in Yerevan, Armenia, Monday, May 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Anthony Pizzoferrato)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrives for a meeting of the European Political Community in Yerevan, Armenia, Monday, May 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Anthony Pizzoferrato)