Esther Lewis
17 November 2008
Cape Town — "The rain was so heavy that we closed our eyes and ears with our hands, just waiting for it to be over."
This was how Madeleine Conradie, expecting twins, described her experience during last week's flooding, when water streamed into her house.
Conradie, who is due to give birth to her twins this week, was alone at her Touws River home with her two children, aged five and 13, and their cousins on Thursday night when the area started flooding.
Once the noise subsided, she opened the front door of her rented house, and "icy cold water" started streaming in around her swollen ankles.
Conradie immediately pushed the door closed, but slipped on the wet floor, fell on her back and skidded across the room.
On Friday, she started having contractions, brought on by what she thought was the shock of what was happening .
Conradie said she was scared for her children because the only access road on the side of the town they live in had been cut off from the rest of the community by a raging river, which flooded the bridge.
The Donkies River burst its banks, flowed across the N1, and into Touws River. There was no way she could walk or be driven across to safety.
It is unclear who summoned for help, but fortunately for her, rescuers were on their way. That afternoon, the Breede Valley Fire and Rescue staff brought her across the river by boat.
She was taken to Worcester Hospital by ambulance and is expected to give birth this week. She and the babies are being closely monitored, and are doing well. The one baby is a boy, but the gender of the other can't be determined yet. Conradie is hoping for a girl.
This is not the first time Conradie experienced this kind of drama. On December 21, 2002, she was six-months pregnant with her second child and living in a RDP house on the bank of the Touws River. Conradie said while the weekend's flood was more severe, the previous flood destroyed her house. That time, she went into premature labour. She was also taken to Worcester Hospital, where medical staff managed to stop her labour.
Her little girl was born at full term on March 15, 2003.
Mayor Charles Ntsomi joked they needed to keep an eye on Conradie, as her pregnancies seemed to coincide with floods.
But Conradie laughed this off and said while she was blessed, she would not be having any more children after the twins.
Three other women from the area went into labour between Thursday night and Friday afternoon.
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