Pair left cooking by candle
Four days without power gruelling ordeal for widow and grandson
Heating canned spaghetti and cheese toasties over candles is how a widow, housebound by her illness, and her grandson got through Auckland’s power cut.
Fiona Ramsay, 60, was one of 182,000 customers in Auckland who lost power after last Tuesday’s storm. Last night, Vector said there were fewer than 400 properties still without power as a result of the storm. Separate crews were also working to restore hot water to customers.
Ramsay lost her partner Mark William Hemi in 2002, after he was run over by a train, and is the sole caregiver for her 8-year-old grandson, TJ.
Power went out in their Swanson home on Tuesday just before 8pm, when a “great big tree” took out the lines down the road, Ramsay said.
It was restored on Friday at about 5.30pm. TJ was home for two days while his school was without power.
Ramsay, who is on a sickness benefit for severe osteoarthritis in both knees, said spending four days without power was “a struggle”. “We were not prepared,” she said. “I was housebound because of my osteoarthritis. My phone went flat on Tuesday evening too, so I couldn’t get updates on the situation or call any-
HWatch the video at nzherald.co.nz body for assistance. I felt hopeless.
“At night-time my grandson was freaking out. The house was getting pummelled in the winds.
“We were heating stuff in pots over candles, that’s how desperate we were. We couldn’t quite boil water with them, but we could get it warm enough to make a drink.”
They lived off cans of spaghetti, sandwiches, and even the odd cheese toastie.
Ramsay does the shopping each fortnight on a Monday, meaning she had stocked up the fridge and freezer.
She had spent about $70 on 10kg of chicken, because it was on special.
That was now part of about $300 worth of food she had to throw out.
She and TJ carried on in their dire situation until Thursday, when her oldest grandson came and checked on them. They went straight to Mitre 10 to stock up on supplies.
“I used all my sickness benefit on a portable gas stove, gas canisters, candles, a torch and more food.”
She rang Work and Income New Zealand, and was offered $70 emergency assistance. Ministry of Social Development general manager of client service delivery Kay Read said the contact centre received 73 calls over the weekend, including a call from Ramsay on Saturday.
“We offered a special needs grant of $70 . . . as there is a limit to the funds we can give clients over a given period.
“At the time Fiona agreed to the amount. She didn’t say she had to buy a gas oven or gas equipment. We will contact Fiona and talk with her about her situation given this new information. We can help her and we apologise for any additional stress caused by our decision.”
Ramsay said it was “a rough week”.