The Destructive Power of Water - Recent Flooding in Stellenbosch South Africa

Nature is beautiful in her destructive power.

It was early in the morning when I heard the ping of the message and the videos of the massive amounts of water flowing. My parents sent me the videos and the reports. There was so much water that flowed; the road was missing as well. And then I saw the video of a small coffee shop @urban.scout and I visited. I still had the video. Please see for yourself the destructive power of water...

(Caveat and note: this is by no means a "bad" flooding in which people have died and political instability followed as recent events in world news have showcased. This is merely "too much rainfall" for an area that does not usually get so much water. This is also just a post to showcase the destructive power of water.)

Here is the video @urban.scout and I took in April 2023:

But here is a screenshot from the video and photographs from roughly the same place:

(This is a screenshot from the video above.)

Here are some photographs from roughly the same spot:

I was not at the scene right after the flooding; they have since the flood restored some of the road and the destruction. But in the above images, you can see how the water washed away the steps and some of the foundation of the building. In this news article, you can also see some of the roads that have been destroyed.

In one of the images in the source linked above you can see a section of the road that was destroyed shortly after the floods.

Here is a photograph I took this afternoon after some of the road repairs:

They have been piling these rocks to help the road that crumbled. I cannot help but feel that if more water come down that there will be problems. It feels like they merely treated the symptom. But what can they do?

Below, you can also see how they tried to prevent flooding by adding these barriers. But you can see that the water did not care about the engineer's degree and know-how. Water and mother nature has her own ways of dealing with problems.

I also spotted one of these creatures in action trying to repair what could still be repaired.

It was not a month ago (1st of June I think) when I spotted these guys trying to broaden the river. Every year right before the rain season, they broaden the river and add more of these rocks. I wonder how much of the tax payer's money has been dumped into these projects. In any case, it seems like their efforts were futile against the power of the water.

We as humans build our rigid houses and roads and try to dictate where the rivers should flow. But that is not how nature works. She is more fluid, and this pun intended; she goes where she likes. In the above and below photograph, you can see how the river did not take the pathway we humans left nature, she took her own path through the barriers we tried to stick in place.

In the end, we cannot predict when disaster will strike. And even if we can with a more accurate degree than we can now, what will we be able to do? We cannot lift roads, we cannot lift buildings. We carved a small rigid space for nature who is herself a fluid being; one who cannot be dictated but who dictates.

Rather than build mangroves from indigenous trees, we opt to plant foreign oak trees but only on the side of the road. We then ask, how did all of this happen? Even though our own stupidity ruled over us.

But then again, one will find these peaceful moments after the storm in which you find yourself marveling at the quasi-mastery we think we have over nature and her whims.

But we know, I think, inherently that we cannot do anything when the waters begin to pour down and the winds start to pick up.

And then we find ourselves staring at the sky marveling at the creation of nature; the bloody horizon and the sunset that proclaims the next morning's sunrise.

We cannot help but paint her creation in pastel colors.

I hope you found this post somewhat inspiring; in the sense to marvel at the destructive power of nature. It is scary how destructive these waters can be. At once, water is life-giving, but it can be so quickly become life-taking as well.

Stay dry and safe.

All of the photographs and videos are my own, taken with my iPhone. The writing is also my own unless hyperlinked or stated otherwise.