Riverbend Camp | Vaal River | 24 April 2025
But not the peaceful kind.
The kind that creeps into your chest when you *know* something is coming… but not exactly *what*.
After nearly two weeks of cleaning, checking pipes, drying grounds, and lifting spirits — the sky stayed blue.
The river settled.
The scars of the 5.3m rise began to feel like stories we could tell, rather than wounds we still felt.
But this morning…
The wind shifted.
The gates opened.
14:30 – Vaaldam: Fifth sluice gate opened
16:00 – Sixth gate followed
17:00 – Bloemhof increases outflow to 2,000 m³/s
That slow breath we felt the Vaal exhale a few days ago?
It just got sucked back in.
This isn’t panic.
This is preparation.
Because where we sit, the mighty Vaal doesn’t give warnings in words.
It speaks in currents.
In pressure.
In the way the reeds rustle without wind.
Some have already started retreating.
Packing up tents. Moving to higher ground. Watching the tree line for signs of rising.
And in the distance…
Another steed thunders toward us.
The first horse barely yielded — and here comes the second.
Unmeasured. Unnamed. But definitely not unnoticed.
And to those upstream, to the ones operating the levers and reading the meters:
We hold thumbs.
We trust the gauges and pray the models hold.
Because down here, we don’t throw blame.
We row boats.
We mop floors.
We start again.
And we feel — genuinely feel — for the riverside families that aren’t quite as ready.
Who haven’t had the resources, or the warning, or the time.
Who hear the same silence we do tonight and wonder if the water’s coming for their front door.
To them: we see you.
To the Vaal: we’re watching.
To tomorrow: bring it on SIR.