Namibia’s Sossusvlei floods
Dramatic photos and videos of flooding at Namibia’s Sossusvlei—one of the world’s oldest deserts—are circulating online, altering the usually arid landscape in striking ways. The images have generated notable engagement and a mix of awe and concern on social channels. (x.com)
Floodwater reached the track into Sossusvlei in early April, turning one of Namibia’s driest postcard landscapes into a temporary lakebed and river crossing. (namibian.org) A report published April 7 said the Tsauchab River was flowing at full capacity in its catchment after heavy rain, and tourists were stopped about 5 kilometers short of Sossusvlei as wet sand and mud trapped some four-wheel-drive vehicles. (namibian.org) The same report said the gravel road C19 into Namib-Naukluft Park near Sesriem was difficult to use, the Tsondab River near Solitaire forced a 20 kilometer detour via Ababis, and Sesriem Canyon could only be viewed from above that morning because the Tsauchab was surging through the gorge. (namibian.org) Sossusvlei is not a permanent lake. It is a salt-and-clay pan at the end of the Tsauchab, an intermittent river that starts in the Naukluft Mountains and usually dies out where dunes block its path. (science.nasa.gov ) (sossusvlei.org) NASA says water in the Tsauchab tends to flow and pool in Sossusvlei only every few years, generally after a rare heavy rainstorm. In its normal state, the pan is dry and pale against the red dunes. (science.nasa.gov) The wider setting makes the images look even stranger. The Namib Sand Sea is a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage site and the only coastal desert with vast dune fields shaped by fog, not regular rainfall. (whc.unesco.org) Namib-Naukluft Park, which includes Sossusvlei and Sesriem, covers 49,768 square kilometers, according to Namibia’s environment ministry. The ministry lists ephemeral rivers among the park’s defining natural features. (meft.gov.na) The Namib is widely described as the world’s oldest desert, and NASA says some of its highest dunes rise in the sand sea around Sossusvlei. Big Daddy, one of the best-known dunes on the Tsauchab’s course, stands about 325 meters high. (science.nasa.gov) The same rains that fed the desert spectacle also affected southern Namibia’s roads and water systems. The April 7 report said several gravel roads were temporarily impassable, while Hardap Dam was nearly 60 percent full, Naute Dam was at 95.5 percent, and Neckartal Dam was already overflowing. (namibian.org) For visitors, that left an unusual tradeoff: a chance to see water running through Sossusvlei’s dunes, and a good chance of not reaching the pan by car at all. (namibian.org)
