Deluge Of Death And Destruction

On 25 January 1981, the Buffels River burst its banks and swept away everything in its path, including the town of Laingsburg in the Karoo. As the rest of the country followed reports of the flood in the news, the town’s residents watched the water level rise and engulf their homes…

- Sophia Van Taak

‘The water was different somehow; swimming didn’t help,” says Francis van Wyk, curator of the Laingsburg Flood Museum, as she shows me photos from that day. “This is what the main road looked like. See how the street lights were all bent out of shape? That’s how strong the current was.”

Her tone is matter-of-fact and her blue eyes betray nothing of the horrors she witnessed.

Another photo shows the landscape levelled to the ground, with only deformed skeletons of buildings remaining. She touches one of the cement blocks in the foreground with her fingertips: “The foundations of the old-age home,” she sighs. “Ja, so it goes.”

For the past few days, I’ve been sifting through books about the flood and going through affidavits by residents. The narratives are muddled in places, which is understandable: The flood came out of nowhere; it was terrifying and chaotic.

The list of people I would like to interview grows longer and longer, but I’m hesitant to ask Francis to put me in touch. Often, my enquiries are met with a shake of the head and the words: “Lost to the flood.”

Barely a hundred steps away, the Buffels River is dormant in its dry bed. It’s impossible to imagine this parched Karoo river as a thundering mass of water. But retrospective studies have shown that unusual weather conditions paired with the town’s location and infrastructure paved the way for a natural disaster.