Dramatic rescue of family whose ute was trapped in swollen river near Ruatoria

Tuesday, 10 January 2023

A family of three, including a six-year-old boy, was rescued from a car that became stuck in a swollen and dangerous river near Ruatoria on Monday night ahead of Cyclone Hale.

The two adults and the boy were in a ute crossing the river, usually little more than a small stream, about 10km south of Ruatoria, about 7pm.

When their vehicle became stuck they called 111.

Waiapu Civil Defence area co-ordinator and Ruatoria Volunteer Fire Brigade firefighter James Palmer said the two grandparents and a grandchild were trying to cross the Kopuaroa River, which leads into the Waiapu River.

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Palmer said the volunteer firefighters leapt into action, forming a human chain to get four firefighters to the other side of the river.

The human chain tactic was employed again to transport the grandparents and grandchild to the other side of the river.

Local senior constable Justin Moore arrived at the scene to see the blue SUV stuck in the middle of a strong current with the three people inside.

St John ambulance and Fire and Emergency staff from around the area arrived about the same time.

“There was a member of the public assisting who advised that Blackbee contractors were going to head down with a large digger to assist,” Moore said.

When the digger arrived the group came up with a plan.

Several FENZ staff put on swift water rescue gear and were able to cross the stream and attach a rope from a tree to the vehicle and spoke with the family.

“We attempted to use the digger but that wasn’t going to work because the water got too deep, so FENZ sent another two staff out, and we got the people out of the car one by one to other side of the river where their house was,” Moore said.

No-one was injured.

“They would have crossed the river hundreds if not thousands of times. It’s normally very shallow, but it was waist deep at points yesterday, and it would definitely have been unsafe for them to get out of the vehicle unassisted,” Moore said.

“If you’d seen the stream as it usually was and then what it was like yesterday you’d have thought ‘holy heck’,” he said.

“It was a great result and a massive effort from all the emergency services, Blackbees and a number of community members who helped out as well,” he said.

The vehicle was left in the river.

Palmer urged residents in the region to avoid unnecessary travel, with heavy rain and gale force winds forecast from Tuesday night to Thursday.

Cyclone Hale made landfall on the East Coast on Tuesday afternoon with gale force winds, swells up to 6 metres, and heavy rain.

Gisborne District Council said the Hikuwai River near Uawa could reach a peak of up to 13.5m at 10pm on Tuesday, higher than during the costly Cyclone Bola in 1988.

Residents near the river were urged to be ready to evacuate, while farmers were asked to move their stock to higher ground.

With nearby ranges already accumulating 100mm of rain overnight, MetService was forecasting a further 150mm to 200mm of rain for Gisborne.

Tairāwhiti Civil Defence said that would take the total rainfall during Cyclone Hale to between 250mm and 350mm.

Tairāwhiti Civil Defence and Emergency manager Ben Green said residents should keep off the roads where possible as there could be slips and slumps around the region.

Civil Defence warned that Cyclone Hale could be “a significant event with widespread effects” in much of the North Island.

Hawke's Bay was forecast to get 100m to 140mm of rain between 3pm Tuesday and 9am Wednesday.

Heavy rain was also forecast for the Tararua Range, between 120mm and 140mm, and the eastern hills and ranges of Wairarapa, between 100mm and 140mm.