Nobody could imagine going to bed on Saturday night 31 August 1968, what they would wake up to the next morning. So when the citizens of Port Elizabeth awoke to some light rain, just after 7 am, they thought it was the perfect day to roll over, snuggle up and have a good Sunday morning snooze.
At just before 8 am, the heavens opened, like a storm of Biblical proportions. In just over 4 hours, between 07h40 and 12h00, a total of 352 mm of rain was measured at the Port Elizabeth Airport. Although this is the officially documented figure, the autographic rain gauge at the reservoir in Brunswick Road (Adcockvale) recorded 470 mm between 08h00 and 12h00.
This equated to a sustained rainfall intensity of 20 to 30 mm per 15 minute period, over this 4 hour period. This turned roads and streets into raging rivers that caused wave upon wave of destruction. City fathers had no way of designing a stormwater system that could even vaguely cope with this amount of water. Experts claim that this was a flood with a return value of more than 100 if not 1000 years (i.e. would only occur once in 100 if not 1000 years).
By the end of the day, the airport had recorded 429 mm and the Adcockvale Reservoir 552 mm.
By 12h00 a total of 352.0 mm was measured (in four hours the rain exceeded the monthly total of 309 mm that was measured at the Port Elizabeth Airport, for the entire month when flooding occurred in March 1981).
The consequences
At the time it was reported that damage was estimated to be in the region of R40 million. A projection of the rand value in 1993 (25th anniversary of the event) was put at R604 million. A 2018 projection of the rand value is in excess of R5 billion. However, one must consider the size of the city at that time and the total population. In other words, if this had occurred in 2018, with the current population, that figure could be, at a conservative estimate, quadrupled.
By comparison, the 1968 flood far exceeded other floods in so far as not only sustained extreme rainfall intensity is concerned, but also total rainfall, it is clear that 1968 is by far the worst flood in living memory.
It was amazing, considering that so much rain fell, that only nine people were reported to have died as a direct result of the flood. Eight drowned and one was electrocuted while trying to repair a roof leak of a house in Central. The Provincial Hospital reported treating 55 patients at its casualty section.
Streets were flooded beyond belief, with numerous photographs showing only the top half of double-decker busses visible in Main Street (now Govan Mbeki Street) in the North End/Sydenham area. Other photographs show people in canoes in 1st Avenue (now Langenhoven Drive) Newton Park. Even more, photographs show the Baakens breaking its banks and engulfing all business premises and residence in its wake in the South End area. Motorcars are also seen washed up against the bridge over the Baakens at the entrance to the harbour, at the old bus sheds.
Although damage of varying degrees were reported from all parts of the city, extensive damage was caused to Albany Road, Brickmakers Kloof, Target Kloof and all areas in the Baakens Valley area. The most visible and memorable images were of the promenade, which was damaged beyond repair and sadly changed the face of the city’s beachfront forever. This occurred when stormwater flowed into the Shark River (the little stream in Happy Valley) and turned it into a raging torrent. This washed away the rugby fields at the Boetie Erasmus Stadium (later known as Telkom Park and now being demolished). This together with other debris dammed up at the bridge over the Shark River (which, at the time, was all but closed to the sea). The bridge and surrounds were all washed away and/or severely damaged. Gone forever from the face of Port Elizabeth were the bathing houses, the ice-cream parlour and restaurant.