Скачать или смотреть Baviaanskloof Flood 1916

On the night of 5 May 1916 a flood of unprecedented scale laid waste to he Baviaanskloof. A massive body of floodwater collected behind debris trapped in the thick growth of prickly pears on the valley floor. When the logjam eventually burst, the liquid avalanche wreaked havoc.

Survivors remember being stranded on rooftops for days before they dared enter the churning waters that stretched across the Kloof. One survivor recalled fishing chickens from the water and cooking them on a rooftop fire. Others told of ostriches still pecking at prickly pears as they drifted downstream. At Kleinpoort, all that remained of five farms was a rocky riverbed.

Many lost everything but the clothes on their backs, and for the Campbell family of the farm Kleinpoort it was a terrible tragedy, recounted in PH Nortje's book The Wild Grape Tree. The family and 15-year old Hans Terblanche, who was staying with them, clambered onto the house roof during the night, and when the walls started to give way the next day they jumped to a nearby wild grape tree (Belhambra). Both parents and two daughters drowned when the tree was washed away. Young Robert Campbell and his friend Hans survived.

The tree roots washed up and a new shoot emerged in silent remembrance. A monument was erected at the site in 1999 to commemorate the Campbell family and all those who died on that fateful night.



(Thanks to www.baviaans.co.za and SABC)