Source: Radio New Zealand
The unprecedented flooding at Whāngaimoana Beach has laid-waste Mellisa Tipene’s veggie garden.
The small settlement on Wairarapa’s south coast became a lake when a trickle of a creek burst its banks on Monday, infiltrating low-lying homes and leaving behind a layer of smelly sludge.
What was Mellisa Tipene’s garden. Mellisa Tipene
Having lived there for 11 years, Tipene said the place was great, when it was not flooded, but right now she just wanted to “sell up and leave”.
Torrential rain earlier this week caused havoc across Wairarapa, knocking out power and cutting off access to rural and coastal settlements, with hundreds isolated on the south coast after floodwaters took out two bridges.
The bridge over the Turanaganui River on Lake Ferry Road reopened on Wednesday night and access was restored at the ‘Banana Bridge’ over the Hurupi Stream on Cape Palliser Road on Thursday afternoon, with restrictions.
Although residents in Whāngaimoana were no longer trapped, many were still there when RNZ visited on Thursday – getting stuck into the clean-up.
Flood-hit kūmara due to be harvested at Matariki will now go to the pigs. RNZ / Mary Argue
After being unable to work for days, both Tipene and her partner Jason Statham were forced to take another day off to sort the mess.
“We haven’t stopped since we flooded. When it nearly came inside we moved all the furniture higher, and then realised it was subsiding and brought the furniture back.
“We’ve been in here [the garage] for two days. We’re like, furniture removals.”
The Lake Ferry bridge repair. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Statham said they just needed to finish the job.
“The last thing we want to do after a day’s work is deal with this. So, we just thought bugger it, we get today, get it sorted and then we can start normal tomorrow.”
He said the water came up quickly, one minute they were “good as gold” the next it was like looking out on a lake.
The septic tank overflowed into the floodwaters, destroying Tipene’s labour of love – the garden.
“We’re just going through cleaning up, pulling it all out because obviously you can’t eat it. We had kumaras, potatoes, kamokamo, pumpkin, carrots – all of it – tomatoes, and now it’s all gone.”
Adam Mazzola’s home was half a metre underwater in some parts during the peak of Monday’s flooding. Adam Mazzola
The water stopped just shy of entering the home, but neighbour Adam Mazzola was not so lucky.
The creek which was still low on Sunday night rose quickly the next morning, and before he knew it water was entering the 100-year-old, low-lying bach.
Flooding at Adam Mazzola’s home. Adam Mazzola
“From 7-8am … it just thumped through and it probably raised up 4-500mm.
“I think they had about 450mm [of rain] in the Aorangis … so everything kinda came from [the] east.”
He said the house was “written off” and he and his 13-year-old son were currently staying at a farmhouse in Pirinoa.
Damage at Adam Mazzola’s home. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
A Givealittle page to raise funds for Mazzola said his home had been hit by a “catastrophic flood” leaving it unliveable.
“Sadly living in a coastal area means insurance … won’t come to the party which sucks.”
Adam Mazzola looks at damage to his home. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
It said Mazzola was “an incredibly generous person” who was always there for others, and now needed help.
Mazzola told RNZ living at the coast came with the risk of flood and oddly, the last major one hit on the same day 22 years ago – 16 February, 2004.
Whāngaimoana resident Terry Shubkin says the response from agencies during and after the storm has been amazing. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Terry Shubkin, another resident of Whāngaimoana Beach Road, said she bought her place a year before the 2004 floods.
“We were told they were a once-in-a-50-year storm, it seems to be much more frequent now.”
Shubkin thought about half of the properties on the lower section of the road had been flooded and inundation depended on whether the home was raised, or not.
“The ones that got flooded, it’s been pretty bad. So we’ve ranged from a couple inches to – I’ve heard stories of at least a foot of water going through the house.
“At least one house I’ve been into you can see … the mud that’s leftover, because it’s really disgusting muddy slime that goes up about a foot of the furniture.”
The repair to Hurupi Bridge. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Shubkin said the response from agencies during and after the storm had been amazing.
“We’ve had Civil Defence out here since Monday doing door-knocking when it was really bad. We’ve had EMO (Emergency Management Office) on the phone with us a couple of times a day.
“We’ve had Search and Rescue come bring us cookies, we’ve had food drops, medicine drops. Red Cross came out here earlier today, so we’ve been well supported.”
The community, like many others around Aotearoa in the wake of severe weather, had also rallied.
“That’s the silver-lining. You realise what a good community we have out here,” she said.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
