Cape Town - Residents living in wooden cabins and caravans at Kays Caravan Park in Strand are still rebuilding what they lost in the recent storm.
The well-known caravan park beside the Lourens River and home to 305 people saw more than 50 structures damaged during last week’s inclement weather.
Denise Labuschagne, 55, said her wooden structure was near a river and many said it would flood again.
“My heart is torn again, how do you keep on starting over and over, but you have no choice.”
Labuschagne and her 60-year-old husband lost most of their possessions and are pleading for assistance.
“I have cried a thousand tears and was thinking how in the world will we ever get this clean again? The river has taken some of our belongings, but it will never take me,” Labuschagne said.
Sandra Jacobs, 43, and her 11-yearold twins, whose wooden structure was also damaged said the recent floods felt “like water was coming from her eyes”.
“You stand in masses of water, and it feels like the water from your eyes. Your belongings float past you in your house, your safe haven,” she said.
Jacobs said she put on her dirtiest clothes and started cleaning because she plays the role of mother and father.
Kays Caravan Park spokesperson, Tracey Martin, said the storms affected 192 people.
She said the caravan park is now a community, that will undergo a twoyear project to rebuild homes, a skills development section, self-sustainable vegetable and fruit tunnels, and a recycling waste management section.
Earlier this year, a devastating fire swept through the caravan park and destroyed most of the homes in its path.
“We are fully aware that many in the community are against Kays Caravan Park, we ask you to please be compassionate and watch the project grow which has been rebirthed to Kays Community for the current residents as well as new residents to come,” Martin said.
To assist the residents contact Tracey Martin on 082 524 6695.
byron.lukas@inl.co.za
Cape Argus