Family clambered on top of furniture as waist-high torrent flowed through house

Tuesday, 5 June 2018

Members of the Mitchell family were standing on top of furniture as a torrent of waist-deep water flowed through their house.

They were about to smash their way into the ceiling cavity to get on the roof of their house when rescuers arrived.

The family's house, which is just a few kilometres inland of Tolaga Bay, was abruptly flooded on Monday morning after the Mangaheia River burst its banks.

Walter Brady, 74, heard a bubbling noise from beneath the sleepout he shared with wife Bessie at around 5.30am.

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'I thought it must have been the sewerage blocked up. I got up, felt water on the floor. I went to turn the light on, but there was no light. Then the carpet started coming up. I said 'come on doll, we have to get out of here',' he said.

'It was instant. Bang. like that,' he said.

Walter carried Bessie to the house a few metres away. By the time they got there a half a metre of water was flowing through the lounge.

'I opened the door and the dog got washed in. That's how much current there was,' Brady said.

Inside the house he met his granddaughter Taylah Mitchell and her boyfriend Tangaroa Torrez who had woken up Taylah's brother, Simeon, who had been sound asleep on an inflatable bed as it floated around his room.

'The water just kept rising. The furniture started floating. We climbed up on a table. We could see bits of the house floating past outside, then the cars and ute started drifting away,' he said.

'I said to the kids if it gets any worse I'm going to bang a hole in the ceiling and we'll have to get on the roof.'

Meanwhile, Walter's daughter Dana and husband Shaun Mitchell  and daughter Kenzie were down in Tolaga Bay township and had heard that the river had burst its banks. They got into Shaun's logging truck and started making their way inland along Tauwhareparae Road to the house.

Just as Walter was thinking about smashing the ceiling the logging truck came up the driveway, having passed through water more than two metres deep.

The family got on the truck and were taken away.

Family and many friends spent Tuesday cleaning the house and sorting out a very large pile of possessions that were ruined, and a much smaller pile of things that could be salvaged.

The family were renting the five-bedroom house, which was more than a century old and had never been flooded before.

'[Cyclone] Bola wasn't this bad. The floor got a bit wet back then, but nothing like this,' Shaun said.

'We lost a few pets. But no human lives. We were lucky,' Dana said.

'When our friends and whanau found out what had happened they dropped everything to come and help. We are so grateful for that,' she said.

Tolaga Bay received further dumps of heavy rain on Monday night but the Hikuwai River, north of Tolaga Bay, while trending down, remained elevated at about 5.5 metres on Tuesday morning. The average winter flow is about 2m.

Tairāwhiti Roads journey manager Helen Harris said several bridges were affected by slash (forestry debris), while others were not.

Twelve local roads remain closed. But 11 bridges in the area affected by the last few days' rain remain a concern for Tairawhiti Roads.

Harris said the most significant concern was the Wigan Bridge on Tauwhareparae Rd, a short distance upstream of the Mitchell's house. 

'The bridge has moved at least 30cm and is twisted. As a result, Tauwhareparae Rd from Paroa Rd onward will be closed for at least two weeks,' she said.