Freak Flood destroys EHRA Base Camp

The night from Monday to Tuesday it rained 120mm in our area. In the last 8 years we have received an average of about 80mm PER year! In 5 days we have received 211mm. This semi-desert area normally gets 100-150mm a year.
We had so much rain that the surrounding hills and large area channelled the water towards our camp and into the Ugab River. Another tributary, which has not flowed for at least 12 years, also discharged water into the flood, which was about 3m high. This flood caused most of the damage, not the Ugab River itself. Although the Ugab River was also extremely high and caused the toilets to collapse, for example. The camp is now covered with metres of sand and some things, like the safe and the roof of the "tree house" are buried. An old 4x4 vehicle with trailer went down the river. Our sturdy stone house, which served as our lounge, broke when the flood eroded the foundation and the whole house collapsed. Two of our camp staff had been hiding there minutes before from the heavy rain. We are infinitely grateful that they managed to get to safety in time. They had heard rocks falling from the cliffs and water rushing like they had never heard before. The biggest damage was to the campsite and all our valuable equipment, our solar power, our water pump and the education centre. Rachel was only able to drive up on Friday as the roads were blocked and washed away. The main bridge that crosses the river has partially collapsed and getting there is only possible with an off-road vehicle and takes several hours. Our camp is not accessible from the main road with 2x4 vehicles.