De Doorns farm workers’ homes destroyed in floods

Garnet Erasmus, a De Doorns farm worker, stands in front of his home that was destroyed by flooding.

“I almost lost my grandchild. I almost lost my life,” says Abraham Douglas, a farm worker at Kleinberg farm in De Doorns.

At 3.30am on 12 May, Douglas and his six-year old grandchild had to climb onto the roof of their house to escape flood waters when storms battered the Western Cape last week.

When they felt the structure shifting beneath them, they had to get to another roof. They sat there for over an hour in the dark, waiting for help to arrive.

“The water was so high no one could get to us,” says Douglas.

Using a rope thrown to them, and with his grandchild on his back, they were eventually able to move through the water to safety.

Four farm worker families lost their homes on Kleinberg farm in De Doornson in floods during the storms that hit the Western Cape last week.

The flood destroyed the homes of four families on the farm. Some farm workers’ houses were partly washed away, and some collapsed. Family belongings were scattered in the mud. Inside the homes, the floors were left caked with mud.

Over 2,200 people were displaced in the Cape Winelands by the storm weather, according to the district municipality.

Garnet Erasmus, who works at Kleinberg, said they had tried to redirect the water flowing into their backyards, but the pressure became too strong. They eventually moved to the crèche, where it seemed safer.

Some residents are sleeping in the nearby crèche.

On Wednesday, they returned to their homes.

“We didn’t realise the damage was this bad,” said Erasmus. “It was a shock.”

He said it was the first time he had experienced anything like this in the 40 years he’d been there.

“We are all very close to one another here. The community has been rocked by this,” he said.

Abraham Douglas and his grandchild climbed onto their roof and had to be rescued during the storm.

We met Alida Fonk, a farm worker at Kleinberg, salvaging what she could from her destroyed home.

“We were fortunately out of here early, otherwise we would’ve all been dead,” she said.

“I am very sad about my furniture, my groceries, and new clothes for the children, which I got last week with their prices still on, which is covered in mud,” she said.

Fonk said they were grateful that other people on the farm came to evacuate them and “helped them to safety”. Some of the elderly had to be carried out of their homes because the water was at that stage already quite high.

The storm has displaced over 2,200 people in the Cape Winelands.

The Kleinberg farm workers are uncertain about their future and whether they will be able to move back into their homes and rebuild them. Currently, they are living in the crèche on the farm and have received help from Gift of the Givers.

Back at his home, Douglas has started shovelling mud out of his house. He has also been trying to get his racing pigeons back into their cage.

“I opened the cage for them during the night but I lost many of them…They are also traumatised. They had to flee in the darkness too.”

“We must start everything all over again,” he said.

Mud caked the farm workers’ home and destroyed their belongings.

During the storm, the nearby river burst its banks and flooded the farm workers’ homes and the vineyards.

The nearby road was blocked by debris.

Video: Ashraf Hendricks

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