Village faces the floods yet again
The Cuff family in Whangaehu have faced four floods in the past 13 years and on Wednesday were bracing themselves for another.
Russell Cuff has lived in the small village on the outskirts of Whanganui for 27 years and said he was fed up with his home being under threat.
‘‘The council put in this drain that cost over a million last time after the 2015 flood, but it’s not working.
"I guess the house gets a good cleanout and we get new carpet." Russell Cuff, flood victim
‘‘It’s happening again.’’ The last floods hit them hard, Cuff said, with floodwaters ‘‘ripping through the house’’ and leaving mud and debris in its wake.
The waterline on a painting tells the story – it’s 8 feet up.
The Whanganui District Council recently deemed the Cuffs’ house structurally safe and so, Cuff said, if the waters do rise to expected levels, they would leave and then pick up the pieces later.
‘‘I just kinda give up now. I guess the house gets a good cleanout and we get new carpet. We won’t leave though, this is home.’’
Cuff said every time the floods came, the village got a little smaller.
‘‘Last time three families went and they don’t come back. Every time we go through this and you get tired of it.’’
The 2015 floods left their mark on the village, with residents then recalling a torrent of water speeding through on a Saturday night.
Some lost everything and, when allowed back to their homes, were faced with mud and silt all over their belongings.
The floods of 2004 left their mark too, causing extensive damage and an evacuation of the area.