Eyewitness Jason Livingstone of Southbroom who caught a jaw-dropping video of the freak wave crashing through Mariners Seafood Restaurant in Marina beach described the incident as ‘really wild.’
His video has since being trending on social media.
Jason said they were watching the rugby at Mariners that Sunday afternoon but the game was boring so he went outside to chill.
“I was watching the waves trickle towards the sandbags and the next minute a rogue set of waves (about 6ft high) took everyone by surprise,” he said.
“You can see in the video that the water was ceiling-high. There was a few elderly folk in the lower part of the restaurant, and they got washed around,” he said.
Kevin said there was about 30 people in the restaurant at the time, and some got washed to the back of the restaurant, in the toilets. One man with his puppy landed on the grill in the kitchen.
Jason says that at one point he saw a person (Kim Tomlinson), getting dragged down the beach.
“I stopped filming and handed my phone over to a friend of mine. I tried to get out onto the beach to help her, but I was battling to get through all the wreckage, and then luckily, I saw the lifeguards helping her. If they hadn’t, she would have been gone.”
LUCKY ESCAPE
Danette Stewart of Palm Beach was sitting at Mariners having a drink with a friend and her Jack Russell, Mitchy when a wave crept up to her feet.
That’s when Danette made an apprehensive ‘gut’ decision to ‘grab her drink and Mitchy’ and make a run for it.
Little did she know that 10 minutes later a set of rogue waves would hit the restaurant and wreak havoc.
“I am so grateful to be alive and that we got out in time” she said.
Danette praised the lifeguards for rescuing an elderly woman that had been swept out to sea earlier that same afternoon.
“Four elderly women were walking on the beach and one was swept out. So within three hours the lifeguards saved many lives,” she said.
Danette added that strangely before the freak wave she couldn’t find the feral cats that are famously known to hang around the restaurant.
“I believe the cats instinctively knew trouble was on the way, and had sought safety on higher ground,” she said.
UVONGO BEACH
While all the drama was unfolding at Marina beach, Ingrid Jammine (68) and Cathy Grant (64) faced a nightmare of their own at Uvongo beach.
The couple were walking their two dogs, when they were hit by a set of massive waves.
Cathy was washed out to sea along with their little dog Coco.
“I had gathered myself and got Gizmo to safety and I couldn’t find Cathy,” she said.
In the meantime, Cathy had blacked out and all Ingrid could see was the heads of her and Coco bobbing up and down in the lagoon.
Quick thinking lifeguards and members of the public jumped in and got them to safety.
Cathy was still in hospital last week. And, Coco is fine after an emergency trip to the vet.
“It has been a traumatising event and I’ve hardly slept since,” said Cathy.
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