Sutherland trip vi - Laingsburg Main Road

Posted by dobbino (Cape Town, South Africa) on 27 July 2009 in Miscellaneous.

On our drive up to Sutherland, we took a short detour to have a look at the little town of Laingsburg.

On 25 January 1981, this town was hit by one of the worst floods that had occurred in the area in more than 100 years. Bridges, houses and people were swept away when the river came down in flood, which was the result of abnormal rainfall in the catchments of both the Buffels and Baviaans Rivers, which have their confluence at the town. The small town was absolutely devastated.

This photo shows a sign on the main road, indicating the height the flood waters reached on that day - approximately 2 metres high! One hundred and four people died during the floods, and only twenty-one houses were left standing.

All comments, and especially constructive criticism is truly appreciated. Thank you for taking the time.

All images © Rob Minter, and licensed in terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 South Africa License

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