Flood forces family on to roof
A Tolaga Bay family who scrambled to the safety of their rooftop during a flash flood say they were woken by the ‘‘jet engine’’ roar of the water.
The couple and their 4-year-old granddaughter climbed on to their farmhouse roof about 4am on Monday morning, and were airlifted to safety hours later.
Nina, who didn’t want to give her last name, said that about
3.30am her partner ‘‘jumped up’’ and they could hear water slapping against the house.
It had started coming in but was only a few centimetres deep.
‘‘All of a sudden, just after
4am, it was like a bloody jet engine, it was rumbling towards our house and it was forestry wood, logs and everything crashed into our windows.
‘‘It was coming in and cracking ... and within 10 minutes it was up to my armpits. So we had to get out.’’
Outside, water was streaming past the house and the current was ‘‘unbelievable’’.
The couple and their granddaughter smashed through a plastic porch roof and climbed on to the roof of the house.
The trio were scared, but Nina said they had to keep it together for their granddaughter.
They managed to grab her wetsuit to wear on the roof and took up jackets, blankets and towels, and used a piece of clearlight to keep the rain off.
‘‘To be honest, when it came 7am, I couldn’t believe it ... It’s never flooded like this before.
‘‘[There was] water as far as the eye could see like a rushing, gushing lake, and just forestry slash, logs, wood everywhere.
‘‘The woolshed’s halfway into the paddock, at least 50 metres.’’
The flooding washed away Nina’s car which she only bought last week, a digger, a tractor and a trailer. They would not be able to move back into the house, it was so badly damaged.
Another cottage and farmhouse on the 1200 acre farm had been completely moved by the floodwaters.
Nina said they couldn’t get back on to the property to check the livestock.
‘‘The road is just wiped out. I’m not really sure when we’ll be able to go back. Hopefully within a week, maybe two weeks.’’
They had whanau to stay with and were getting support from them and the community. They were airlifted out by the Eastland Community Trust rescue helicopter crew.
‘‘I just hovered on top of the roof,’’ pilot Hamish Ramsay said.
‘‘My crew member jumped out on to the roof and loaded them on to the helicopter.
‘‘In the river mouth at Tolaga Bay there’s about 2 hectares of pine trees all sitting out in the sea. It looks like a big island.’’
The house was in Mangatokerau Rd north of Tolaga Bay, the area worst affected by torrential rain since midnight.
Another two households about 8km up the Tauwhareparae Rd were trapped in their homes by flooding, Civil Defence said.
About another 20 people had been evacuated from houses around the area and were being housed at Mangatuna Marae.
Forecast
Heavy rain was predicted through to early today for many eastern areas, with gales and heavy snow added to the forecast. The wintry blast is being caused by the same low, to the west of Northland, that has already brought extensive flooding from Northland to Gisborne.
MetService said ‘‘strong and cold’’ southwesterlies were expected over the country from late today and into tomorrow.
Snow was expected to fall to as low as 200 metres – with heavy falls above 400m – tonight through to tomorrow morning, in Fiordland, inland Southland and Clutha, inland Dunedin, Central Otago and the Southern Lakes.
‘‘In the river mouth at Tolaga Bay there’s about 2 hectares of pine trees all sitting out in the sea.’’ Helicopter pilot Hamish Ramsay