 Many people were swept down the river in total darkness, others saving themselves by climbing into trees and on other stationary objects.More than sixty bodies were later recovered and a number of them buried in the same grave, but the number of deaths was never established with certainty.Another storm occurred at the beginning of December 1897, with the "Cape Argus" reporting that the downpour had been so heavy that "no rain equal to it had been witnessed since the great flood of 1871.