The falls are impressive and even more so when the Orange River is in flood. During the drought in 2019 the falls weren’t that impressive. The gorge at the Augrabies Falls is 240 meters (800 ft) deep and 18 kilometers (10 mi) long and is an impressive example of granite erosion. Few sights are as awesome or a sound as deafening as water thundering down the 56-m Augrabies Waterfall when the Orange River is in full flood. The Khoi people called it ‘Aukoerebis’, or place of Great Noise, as this powerful flow of water, is unleashed from rocky surroundings characterized by the 18-km abyss of the Orange River Gorge.
The Augrabies Falls have recorded 7,800 cubic meters (280,000 cu ft) of water every second in floods in 1988 (and 6,800 cubic meters (240,000 cu ft) in the floods of 2006).