Marloth resident remembers 2000 floods
Within about 36 hours, some rangers' posts in the south of the park had recorded 500 millimetres of rain.
In the year 2000, the Lowveld was hit by massive floods.
Dawie Fourie, a resident of Marloth Park, shared his version of what he experienced on that day with Corridor Gazette.
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“I woke up on the morning of February 8, 2000, with the sound of the Crocodile River in flood. Like most people in Marloth Park at the time, I rushed down to the river. The river had pushed up all the way to the veterinary control fence along Crocodile Road. It was in the days before digital cameras, so after exhausting the last of exposures on the roll of film I had in my camera, I rushed to the shop to buy two more rolls.
“On returning to Crocodile Road, I found the river had pushed over it. I took a couple of photos showing the extent of the flooding, then rushed off to the Krans Lookout. I took photos there and then further downstream at Twin Trees.
“About another kilometre downstream I found a buffalo bull stuck between the fence and the rising water. I tried to find a pair of pliers to cut the fence. When I returned to the same spot about 20 minutes later, the buffalo was gone and the water was touching the fence.
“Before midday the water started subsiding and we thought everything was back to normal. But then at around 15:00 I got a call from my friend Frans van Rooyen.
“I could sense the panic in his voice. He told me that the river had started rising again. I could barely make it to the corner of Locust and Karee streets before I was halted by the water that was now about 80 metres beyond the fence.
“I ran through the veld to find one of the most astonishing sights of my life. Oom Jacques and Tannie Rena de Villiers were standing on the second storey of their house. The water was up to their chests.
“There was panic as volunteers tried to swim a thick rope across the water to where Oom Jacques and Tannie Rena were clinging on for dear life. Fortunately, after what felt like hours, the SAAF came to the rescue with an Alouette helicopter and airlifted them both to safety.
“The river rose about eight metres above the 100-year flood line. I later used satellite imagery to measure the width of the river. At Oom Jacques’ house, the river was more than 370 metres wide.
“Darkness fell over Marloth Park and it was only the next morning that the devastation was clear. The damage to the houses along the river was significant.
“Within about 36 hours, some rangers’ posts in the south of the park had recorded 500 millimetres of rain. It took months and months for the inhabitants and owners to rebuild their lives.”
