Members of the IPSS Search and Rescue team, who risk their lives in dangerous terrain, battling the elements and obstacles to help find missing people after storm- and disaster-related events, say they are driven by the urge to provide closure to distraught families.
The team, with other organisations, were instrumental in the recovery of more than 30 missing people after heavy rains led to flooding in parts of KwaZulu-Natal during the festive season. In another operation, two people were successfully rescued when their vehicle was washed away in the uMngeni River in the KwaDabeka area.
IPSS said most of the work was done in a 2-week period and included the recoveries of many children.
“The Mercury” reported earlier this week that the death toll in KwaZulu-Natal had risen to at least 40 following storms in December and early January while about five people were still missing.
IPSS search-and-rescue specialist Tereza van den Berg, 43, who was part of the team who assisted with the recoveries in Ladysmith after a river burst its banks, said the first three days of the operation were the toughest.
She said they arrived on Christmas day when the weather conditions were still bad and this made the operation dangerous with long hours spent working in the rain.
“We were the first rescue team together with one K9 unit member searching and the water levels were then still extremely high,” she said.
Van den Berg said the community also started losing hope.
“On day three after not one recovery, the families were very anxious, sad, restless and wanted to help search for their loved ones but the conditions were so dangerous we urged them to stay away from flooded areas,” she said.
After days of searching, rescuers started recovering bodies on the fourth day, she said, adding that it had been tough because of where they were found and having to inform the families.
Another member of the team, volunteer Keith Muller, 44, said the days were long and taxing because they covered many kilometres on foot, in 4x4 vehicles and spent a lot of time physically wading in the rivers.
“Once the water levels subsided and we started finding the lost ones, it gave us a new drive to push hard,” he said.
The hardest part of the operation was the vast and different types of terrain including pockets of bush, mud and silt plains, gushing rivers and even rocky banks to navigate.
“This made it particularly hard to plan in terms of PPE (personal protective equipment) and equipment, and many of us ended up working in our wetsuits and flotation devices for days, in rain, cloudcover or even on some scorching sunny days. Everywhere we searched was one continuous obstacle course made up of debris.”
Muller said they would bump into family members and he could see and feel their pain, despair and hopelessness.
“That for me is the hardest part of the job seeing the hurt these people are suffering and that is also what drives me to keep pushing, by giving them closure.”
He said it is comforting for him to know that lost loved ones are found.
“I have often wondered what it must feel like for a mother, father, spouse, sibling or even friend not knowing where their loved ones are or even that last goodbye and send-off,” he said.
Van den Berg said what she does is a passion and not a job.
“None of us want to lose someone and not know where they are or what happened. So for us it’s very important to do our best and keep going.”
With regard to the physical and mental difficulties of the job, she said everyone has a different way of dealing with it all.
“For me I make sure I’m always in great physical and mental condition so that when we do get deployed on missions like these my body copes a bit better. We try to stick with our team and support each other,” she said.
The Mercury