JOHANNESBURG, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- South Africa is on high alert for tropical storm Eloise after the South African Weather Service (SAWS) warned that it will hit the country this coming weekend.

The SAWS said Eloise already started to affect the coastal regions of Mozambique and is expected to become a tropical cyclone on Friday night.

As she makes landfall and moves southwest overland this weekend, the system will rapidly weaken into a depression and reach the Limpopo River Valley by Sunday, bringing heavy downpours and damaging winds to the northern and eastern parts of South Africa.

The SAWS has issued an L4 Yellow warning for disruptive rain possible over Mpumalanga and Limpopo on Sunday into Monday.

Kruger National Park (KNP) said they are on high alert and working with scientists from SAWS who will advise if they have to evacuate camps in the affected areas or not.

"Emergency teams are on standby in the park monitoring the situation and will be activated if there is any danger. We urge tourists to be extra cautious during this period. As a precautionary measure, we have already closed all gravel roads and some facilities in the Pafuri area after heavy rains which fell in the evening of Jan. 20," said KNP managing executive Gareth Coleman.

KwaZulu-Natal member of the executive council for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Sipho Hlomuka said disaster management teams are on alert to respond to incidents related to the storm.

"As a precaution, communities situated in the low-lying areas are being warned to be on high alert. We have placed disaster management teams on high alert. The teams will be monitoring areas in the uMkhanyakude district that are prone to weather-related incidents so that they can provide assistance to communities should the need arise," Hlomuka said. Enditem

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