'We knew before we opened the door': Nelson community come together amid the devastation

Sunday, 21 August 2022

Clouston Terrace resident Mary Willett said her evacuation-by-firefighter experience was 'fantastic'.

Mary Willett doesn’t have much time to talk.

“I’ll have a chat, as long as it’s not too long because I have a lot to do.”

On Sunday morning, the 89-year-old was busy clearing debris from the property of her Clouston Tce home.

Willett was napping when the waters rose on Wednesday. “The river was high when I lay down, I got up half an hour later, and it was around the house.”

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“A fireman lifted me over the fence and carried me out, that was a highlight, just fantastic,” said Mary Willett.

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‘’We got back and saw the tidemark on the house, we knew before we opened the door,’’ said Anne Devlin, who is packing up her family photo albums.

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When a fire crew knocked on her door, she grabbed a few things and prepared to leave.

All manner of surprising things washed up when Nile St flooded. This koura (crayfish) was deposited in the property where Anne Devlin lives.

With the front garden flooded, a firefighter carried Willett out through the back of the neighbouring property.

Stuff has travelled over the flooded Marlborough region to examine the extent of the damage after a devastating storm. Video first published August 21, 2022.

“A fireman lifted me over the fence and carried me out, that was a highlight, just fantastic. I like a bit of excitement.”

Despite the debris littering her property, Willett was in good spirits. Her home’s interior was spared, and she’s had plenty of help.

“I’ve got a lovely family, and they’re all very supportive.”

Anne Devlin wasn’t so lucky. She and her daughter were “just gutted” when they returned to their Nile St home to find 30 centimetres of water had flooded her home.

Dan Butler, from Wakefield, called a friend and arranged to borrow a digger to clear his mum's Nile St driveway.

“We were hoping for the best; hoping it was just the garden,” Devlin said. “We got back and saw the tidemark on the house, we knew before we opened the door.”

Bands of Nelson residents have grabbed their wheelbarrows and garden tools to help their neighbours living on Riverside.

With little time to prepare for evacuation – by the time she left, floodwaters had reached her garden – Devlin quickly piled items on the beds. Some treasured items, like the family photo albums, were saved. However, most of her belongings are destroyed, she said.

Worse, she’d lost her home. “We’ve lived here a long time, and my daughter and I are homebodies,” Devlin said. “It’s devastating.”

Now, she was “desperately” looking for a rental, posting on social media to try and find accommodation and putting out feelers wherever she could.

On Sunday morning, Devlin was packing salvaged items into boxes. Friends were on their way to help with a few tasks, including pulling up the carpets to help dry out the home.

“I’ve got far more friends than I realised. We have had offers to help, money, food, it’s been awesome.”

Up and down the street, there was a purposeful atmosphere as Nile St residents rolled up their sleeves and got to work. Trailers were slowly filled with damaged belongings and shovels employed to clear driveways, gardens and gutters. Neighbours gathered on the street to compare notes.

Theresa Bygate, who lives on the south side of the street, described how the waters rose rapidly.

“[The river] just spread, flowing into the backs of properties. There was no stopping it, it happened in less than 10 minutes.”

She checked on an absent neighbour’s house before heading to her own basement room to salvage what she could.

The water rose so quickly that before she knew it, Bygate was almost chest-deep, she said.