Weather-trapped hikers rescued
Published: September 28, 2004
Eighteen hikers from Somerset West, including 11 children and a two-year-old, were rescued at the weekend after being caught in unseasonal rains that lashed the Eastern Cape.
The group had been hiking from the Mazeppa Bay Hotel to Wavecrest on Saturday, the second day of their four-day hike, when they were trapped by rivers - known by locals as “One” - that had flooded due to torrential rain on the Wild Coast.
André van Druten, an anaesthetist from Somerset West who was one of those rescued, said it was an easy walk suited to anyone from young children to pensioners and porters had been provided to help with equipment.
“The walk had been mostly on flat terrain, with some of it along beaches. The distance between the Mazeppa Bay Hotel and the Wavecrest Hotel was 22km,” Van Druten said.
The two hotels were separated by four rivers which the hikers had to cross, a task that would normally be quite easy.
They had crossed two of the four rivers without much trouble. However, when they reached the third the stream had become too strong to cross and the party decided to turn back.
Forty-five minutes later they were back at the river they had crossed earlier, which by then was also flooded.
The group decided to move inland and found shelter in a small store.
Luckily they had cellphones and called the Wavecrest Hotel to ask for rescue vehicles.
When it became apparent that 4×4 vehicles would not be able to reach them, AV8, a local helicopter company, was called to airlift the hikers to safety.
Clyde Dalling, who flew the Allouette that rescued the group, said conditions had not been good for flying and visibility had been bad.
Van Druten said the hikers had looked tired, but their lives were never at risk.
Helen Ross, whose company Wildcoast Meander organised the hike, said the group had resumed their walk on Monday.
“The only river currently in flood is the Kei. The two rivers that were flooded on the weekend are generally not open, but with the floods they opened up,” Ross said.
Meanwhile, the organisers of the Hansa Powerade Fish River Canoe Marathon have urged participants to stay off the course until the floodwaters have subsided.
The catchment area was hit by 48 hours of non-stop rain over the weekend, which resulted in a massive surge of floodwater pushing the flow of the river to well over 100 cubic metres per second (cumecs). The race is usually held at 26 cumecs.
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