Cape businessman’s flash flood escape

Meiringspoort flood - Photo courtesy of the Oudtshoorn Courant

Meiringspoort flood - Photo courtesy of the Oudtshoorn Courant

Published Mar 25, 2015

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Cape Town - As the current jostled him between the banks, the landscape darkening around him, Piero von Palace had given up. He snatched at passing thorn bushes and branches, but some snapped and others were agonisingly out of reach.

“I had a relative who went this way,” said the Italian, speaking over the phone from his hospital bed. “I thought my time might come.”

A road trip from Cape Town to Joburg almost turned deadly for the 59-year-old diamond cutter and gemologist, who owns Piero Verde Diamond Wholesaler in Greenmarket Square, when flash floods in Meiringspoort swallowed up parts of the N12 on Monday and on Tuesday. It was about 5pm when Von Palace, travelling in a VW Golf with his apprentice, found his way barred by a flooded bridge.

Rain in the Karoo about 40km away had caused the rivers that lance through Meiringspoort to swell and overflow. Strong currents washed through the poort and by late evening most of the road was under water.

At the parking lot, which services Meiringspoort’s well-known waterfall, 20 passengers found themselves stranded on a Greyhound bus.

Oudtshoorn Courant editor Hannes Visser, who was out on the road until midnight on Monday, said the passengers were forced to climb up to the top deck as water levels rose more than 1.5m.

“They got scared and thought it might come up higher, so they got right up on top and used a tree to get up on this cliff above them.”

While the passengers, including nine children, scaled their way to safety, Von Palace found himself trapped.

He had turned the car around, certain the waters now surging over the bridge would easily pick up the vehicle and send it rushing downstream.

But a hasty retreat was met by more floods.

“We found a truck standing there and my friend decided to get out and jump into the truck with the driver. I tried to do the same, but the water was blocking the door and I couldn’t get out.”

When he finally stepped out of the car the water swept him off his feet. A desperate attempt to hang on ended quickly as his arms lost their strength.

He was washed more than 1km downstream as he flailed in the rapids, the current swinging him from left to right.

“The current was so strong, I had to grab a piece of a thorn tree but that was just floating with me.”

Eventually he managed to direct himself towards the bank and haul himself to safety. But with thorn bushes everywhere and only the stars for light, it was like walking on spikes. “I couldn’t move anymore, I was in so much pain.”

Sitting on the river bank, not certain whether the water levels would rise again, Von Palace prayed to be rescued. When he spotted searchlights in the distance he began shouting. At 3am, almost seven hours after he was first ripped away by the current, did emergency teams discover him on the bank.

On Tuesday, speaking from the Klein Karoo Mediclinic, Von Palace said he was glad to be alive. But his car is still floating upside down in water near the N12.

The diamond cutter, his apprentice, the truck driver and 26 others, including those on the bus, were rescued by Disaster Management teams, police and paramedics early on Tuesday. Parts of the road were reopened on Tuesday, but with more rain predicted, local municipalities expected more flooding.

“I just want to get out of there and find my car,” said Von Palace.

* Two years ago, Von Palace found himself in a different kind of struggle when he wrestled with an armed gunman trying to rob his store. The Cape Argus spoke to Daniel Geddes, his assistant at the time.

The gunman had walked into the shop and handed him a note, which “read that this was a robbery and that he would shoot me if I didn’t co-operate”.

They went to an office at the top of the stairs where Von Palace was speaking with two clients. The robber, brandishing what would later turn out to be an air-pump pellet pistol, asked the clients to hand over their wallets and valuables and then asked Von Palace to open a safe containing diamonds.

Geddes said Von Palace pounced on the suspect, and the two of them went “head first” down the stairs.

With the help of one of the clients, the suspect was subdued. He was arrested by police who arrived a short while later.

“We have to add our congratulations to the police. They were quick in their response and very professional,” Geddes said.

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Cape Argus

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