Hotels and river tour operators affected by Gamtoos Valley floods

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The Gamtoos Valley was among the hardest-hit areas by what has been dubbed the worst flood in living memory.

The flooding was caused by water overflowing from the Kouga Dam after heavy rainfall pushed the dam beyond full capacity early this week.

The excess water flowed into the Gamtoos River system, leading to widespread flooding in low-lying areas, including Thornhill, Gamtoos Mouth and surrounding farming communities.

On Thursday the Kouga municipality issued an evacuation notice for residents in low-lying areas, including Kingsway Village, Big Fish, Gamtoos Mouth Resort and the Ferry Hotel area, as floodwaters continued rising.

According to residents, the river burst its banks just after midnight on Friday, and many people woke up to floodwater inside their homes, forcing the implementation of emergency evacuation measures.

Weather guru Garth Sampson said the dams were fortunately only at 36% when the rain started.

“If the dams were full, there would have been so much more damage and destruction because all that water would have overflowed.

“The bulk of that water went into the dam before it overflowed.”

Overflowing dams accompanied by heavy rainfall the past few days resulted in severe flooding in the Gamtoos River area. Residents were evacuated, and some needed rescuing. The Gamtoos River in flood caused devastation to farmland and communities near the banks of the river. (Werner Hills)

The renowned Ferry Hotel was one of the casualties, as the river burst its banks and covered surrounding farmland, completely engulfing the hotel.

Early on Friday morning, only the roof of the hotel was visible.

NSRI Eastern Cape regional representative Ian Gray, said that at 1.40am on Friday morning the NSRI emergency operations centre and NSRI Oyster Bay duty crew were activated after reports of multiple people and animals trapped by rising water.

“Reports suggested at least 40 persons and animals were trapped by rising water at the Kingsway Resort and at homes and farmsteads in the neighbouring areas, with roads out of the area flooded and inaccessible.

“NSRI crews, police and emergency services were geared to evacuate the affected people and their animals to safety.”

Kouga mayor Hattingh Bornman said on Friday afternoon all stranded residents in the Gamtoos Valley had been successfully evacuated.

“A total of 49 residents are safe, with no injuries or fatalities reported.

“While most of the rain has now passed, many areas remain flooded and dangerous.

“Please remain vigilant, avoid flooded roads and low-lying bridges, and continue exercising caution.

“If evacuation support is required, please report it immediately.”

Resident Garth Johnson, who lives in Kingsway with his wife, said they received an evacuation notice via WhatsApp at about 2.30pm on Thursday.

“Authorities were urging residents to evacuate. We then made the call at about 3.30pm to pack up and leave Kingsway,” Johnson said.

They had taken a drive towards the Gamtoos Ferry Hotel, and he was shocked at what he saw.

“You could just see the volume of water coming down about to hit the river.

“I have lived here for a long time and have never seen something quite like this. Some residents decided to stick it out. They said they would stay and measure where the water came up.

“When I phoned [for an update on Friday morning], I was told it had come through the park, so all the houses are under water, including mine.

“I have not been able to get there to see the damage for myself, but I am quite sure it is devastating.”

Owner of Gamtoos River Adventures Anchen Coetzer said she and her team had stayed on their ferry until 1am on Friday morning until they had to evacuate to higher ground.

“Our 10-tonne ferry is now sitting on dry land.”

“We knew there was a huge storm coming, but we didn’t expect it to be this bad.”

Coetzer said her team had been on site since Tuesday preparing for the flood.

“It got progressively worse and worse, and by Thursday morning the rain just started coming down.

“The boat came in as the river came in.

“There really wasn’t anything we could do.

“It’s been horrible; it’s absolutely devastating.”

Coetzer said she was grateful that they managed to tie the ferry with ropes to save it from washing out to sea.

“We will rebuild and we will start again. That’s all we can do.

“The farmers around us have suffered massive damage, not only here but in the Andrieskraal and Patensie areas. Their vineyards are flooded, so it’s a massive loss for them as well.”

As flood water subsided on Friday afternoon, pumpkins and hay bales from upriver farms could be seen strewn across the river banks.

A few hundred metres down the road from Gamtoos River Adventures, two families were stranded at the Wacky Woods campsite.