Roads along Orange River closed

The tarmac road between Oranjemund and Aussenkehr is now officially closed to traffic due to heavy flooding of the Orange River.

Last week, the dirt road DR212, from Rosh Pinah to Aussenkehr, was already closed.

Atti Stoltz of the Oryx Guest House in Oranjemund said the Orange River has been flowing into the sea at a strong rate for a week now.

"However, this is not the highest level the river has run into the sea. I've lived in Oranjemund for thirteen years now, and the water level has been higher."

The river washes over the road about 20 kilometres before Rosh Pinah, and only selected vehicles are allowed to drive through.

"In earlier years, when it was only a dirt road, the river always washed away the road, and we had to drive through the Sperrgebiet to Lüderitz and then Keetmanshoop. When they decided to build the tarmac road, they took the highest watermark of 1997/81 and built the road even higher so that in the future there would be no problem and Oranjemund would no longer be cut off. The water has already washed over the tarmac with the last two floods."

Tanja Bause