THE BIG WET Pet project a muddy mess
MUD, rubbish and misplaced animals everywhere is what Jeff Harris has dealt with this week.
Mr Harris, who helps care for a family who live on Hammond Way, Kelso, spent Thursday at the home stopping it from going under.
Three layers of sandbags at the front gate helped stop water getting into the house but the animals’ homes were not so lucky.
Mr Harris spent yesterday cleaning them out.
“All the animal pens were just a write- off,” he said.
“We’ve got two calves that are about three months old, a horse, a pig, two goats, 20 chickens and five dogs. It’s a farmyard around here.”
Mr Harris said the pens would need at least a couple of truckloads of sand to fix them after they had been cleaned.
He said the water was flowing at more than 10 knots along the street.
“Michelle ( who Mr Harris cares for) has been here for about 22 years and she’s seen it like this three times in 20 years,” he said.
One thing that disappointed Mr Harris was people driving quickly along Hammond Way, causing water to flow into the backyard.
“I know for a fact they don’t live around here, they’re just driving around ... and some of them are seeing how fast they can get through it,” he said.
Tayla Blackhurst, who lives a few properties down from Mr Harris, said they were lucky, with no damage or flooding during the rain.
Their home was not flooded but it was like an island with the water lapping at the patio.
“It came pretty quick, especially once the tide came in. The water was everywhere,” Ms Blackhurst said.
“There was a bit of rubbish and debris that floated down.
“The patio stayed dry, the house stayed dry, it literally just flooded everything around us. Any higher and it would have went over.”
Although there was no damage to the house, Ms Blackhurst did get a fright when she went to take some photos of the flooded road.
“I stood on a little python and it was not very nice. I had to get dad to come out and help,” she laughed.
Ms Blackhurst said her dad had to tow a few people who got stuck on the road. Picture: ZAK SIMMONDS