GAMTOOS VALLEY – The owners of Gamtoos Ferry Hotel are facing the devastating task of rebuilding after severe flooding caused extensive damage to the historic property earlier this month.
The Gamtoos Valley was among the worst-hit areas after the Kouga Municipality issued an urgent evacuation order for the area on 7 May when the Kouga Dam exceeded full capacity and began spilling.
The evacuation followed the South African Weather Service’s Level 8 warning for disruptive rain in the Kouga and Kou-Kamma areas.
Co-owner Annette Herselman said they received an alert on 8 May at about 15:00 warning that flooding was moving towards the Gamtoos Valley as water overflowed from the Kouga Dam and surrounding catchment areas.
“From 15:00 to about 18:00, we had about 10 people travel to the hotel with a truck who then helped to load as much furniture as possible onto the truck and as quickly as possible,” said Annette.
She said staff members had already been sent home earlier that week as a precaution ahead of the expected heavy rainfall.
According to Annette, they were informed at about 20:00 that they needed to leave the area before the Gamtoos River Bridge was submerged.
“This would then prevent us from leaving the area if the bridge were underwater,” said Annette.
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She said the situation became increasingly difficult as the hotel had no electricity during the evacuation efforts, and by 18:00, they stopped loading the truck as it had become too dark to see clearly.
Annette said the floodwaters began rising rapidly from 20:00 and reached their highest point at about 03:00 on 9 May before eventually beginning to subside.
“At this point it is very difficult to say what the extent of the damage is as we have to wait for the water to dry up completely,” said Annette.
“In the meantime, we have continued to remove all furniture and clean up the water and mud.”
Annette said they would only be able to meet with an assessor once everything had dried sufficiently.
Thankfully, the Gamtoos River Bridge has since reopened, allowing travel to and from the area.
Annette said the last major flood to affect the hotel occurred in the 1970s, but described the recent flood as far worse.
Annette and her husband, Roy, took ownership of the hotel in April 2023, and had since expanded the property significantly.
“During this time, we have built a wedding venue, restaurant and additional rooms,” said Annette.
“All of this has been destroyed, and we have to start over again.”
For now, Annette said that the focus remains on recovery efforts.
“At the moment, our priority is to get everything dry and clean. Thereafter, we will work on getting back on our feet,” said Annette.
“We will work on each section and then continue from there.”
Annette said it was still too early to determine when the hotel would fully reopen, although they hoped to reopen part of the property within approximately three months.
The disaster has also affected the hotel’s employees, with Annette confirming that staff members had to be let go temporarily while the business works to recover.
She described the experience as emotionally overwhelming.
“The flood and damage to the hotel are a very emotional and very tragic process. It is a heartbreaking experience, and I feel hopeless because we have lost everything,” said Annette.
“We have been working for three years to build this and now we are trying our best to get everything together.”
In the meantime, the hotel is arranging for functions to be transferred to nearby venues until it can host events again.
Despite the devastation, Annette said the support from the community has brought some comfort, with many feeling their pain.
“The community has been very helpful, and we have had a lot of people offer their assistance following the flood,” she said.
“We are very thankful for all the assistance we have received thus far, including that from Kouga Executive Mayor Hattingh Bornman.”
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