Hira School's grounds transformed by raging floodwaters

Friday, 26 August 2022

Hira School acting principal Pam Stack surveys the ‘heartbreaking’ damage to the school from the recent floods.

Classrooms may have remained intact at a north Nelson school but the acting principal says it's the little things that will hit students the hardest.

When Hira School acting principal Pamela Stack first laid eyes on the school grounds after last week’s four days of heavy rain, she said she was “heartbroken and in shock”.

“It’s so different now compared to pre-flood. It’s been transformed, it’s unbelievable.”

Mud and rock was dumped onto the school grounds by the raging floodwaters, seeing the school pool “almost underground” while areas cordoned off include the playground, tennis court, back field and creek area, Stack said.

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Hira School has a massive clean-up on its hand after the recent flooding which hit north Nelson hard.

She said the damage and inaccessibility to the creek would upset the children the most.

The creek, lovingly named Awa Iti by the school, “blew out completely, changed its course, and became far too dangerous for anyone to be near”, Stack said.

“Little Awa Iti is an absolute taonga for our school. The kids have supervised play in the creek and have pet eels that they nurture. When they all come back next week, they’ll probably need some counselling.”

When the weather rolled in last Wednesday, students were sent home as the Wakapuaka River was flooding and roads were set to be closed, she said.

The creek which runs through Hira School, lovingly named Awa Iti, “blew out completely”.

The following day, Stack said the caretaker told her the school looked okay, but things got “a lot worse” on Friday.

“The power of the water and gravel in the creek ripped robust wrought iron fencing in two.”

She said one week on from the devastation, the community and the local volunteer fire brigade are still rolling up their sleeves to clear the mess and repair the damage.

“It takes a village to heal a village.”

But while the Ministry of Education had assessed the school’s damage, she couldn’t say when the grounds would return to normal.

Care is being urged on SH6 Hira to Rai Valley (Nelson to Blenheim) due to flooding.

“It’s certainly going to limit kids’ play opportunities for a while.”

As the community mucked in to help one of its hubs get back on its feet, Stack said she knew many homes were impacted by the floods and slips, reflected in the 10 children at school on Friday out of a roll of 75.

“I’m kind of guessing, with the number of children choosing to stay home, there are families needing to do some nest mopping up, and probably do some healing around what's going on.

“We’ve heard some pretty tragic stories from some. Roads and the rivers have had their way.”

Volunteer firefighter and Hira School parent Andi Waddington said he had visited many families to deliver food while also gathering water and “making sure the community is well positioned to receive the needs they require”.

He said the Hira Volunteer Fire Brigade had helped clean out Hira Kindergarten and Hira School “trying to get those community organisations back on their feet, which is important, so people can have a sense of normality”.

“There are strong, resilient, really hardworking community; they just want to give it their all. They've really banded together.”