Beach rescue a mammoth task

NATIONAL NEWS - A group of 30 owners of four-wheel drive vehicles - all from the Garden Route - played an important role in rescuing and evacuating residents of Brenton-on-Sea and Buffalo Bay who were forced to flee their homes in storm weather on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Dozens of people stood on the beach of Brenton-on-Sea on Wednesday and in the early hours of Thursday after their homes had burnt down and the area had been enveloped in smoke.

The whole process was repeated on Saturday 10 June when Buffalo Bay had to be evacuated.

Mario Ferreira, a Segefield businessman, said all-in-all, 500 people were moved to safety in those crucial days. The rescue even entailed having to carry bedridden people to their cars and driving them via the beach to safety.

Recounting the dramatic events, Ferreira said earlier this week, "We ran a Joint Operation Centre together with the Eden District Municipality from the Sedgefield City hall and to be honest, the worst may be over but we are still kept busy full-time, monitoring and fighting the fires around us." Ferreira was alerted to the unfolding drama by Richard Meyer of the Knysna Municipality who gives 4x4 training and knows him personally, who asked him to get involved.

"I then got onto my social media groups to enlist help. We have three warehouses full of emergency stocks which are constantly being restocked. We even loaded five dogs into our cars. Our Dispatch Centre has been working non-stop, handing out donated items to people in need.

We make sure that we take all the particulars when we hand over the stocks to people who redistribute it," Ferreira said. He is grateful that the team of volunteers who worked tirelessly to provide humanitarian aid were praised for their efforts.

Brenton-on-Sea looks eerie on Wednesday with clouds of billowing smoke hanging over the area. "We had some distressing moments during the evacuation," said Mario Ferreira this week.

ARTICLE: PAULINE LOURENS, GEORGE HERALD JOURNALIST

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