Source: Radio New Zealand
Some Ōhura residents are questioning flood-warning systems. RNZ / Robin Martin
Some Ōhura residents are questioning flood-warning systems in the tiny King Country settlement after being forced from their beds during a flash flood this month.
They say there was little warning and a flood siren remained silent, but Horizons Regional Council says the siren is being replaced and contingency plans were followed fully.
Hayley and Gene McBride live on Kiwi Street with their two primary school aged children.
On the night of the floods, they monitored the Mangaroa Stream and turned in about midnight – exhausted but believing everything was fine.
Hayley said it was not long before they were up again.
“I got a call from my neighbour at 2am to ask if I could open the hall because I hold a key for the hall which is a Civil Defence site.
“So I got up and went to our front door and the water was at the front door, so we kind of got the kids ready.
“And ran my neighbour and said, like, we can’t get out and we need help. She rang, I think, the fire brigade and they said they couldn’t get to us.”
Hayley and Gene McBride say there was little warning their home was about flood. RNZ / Robin Martin
Gene said within minutes the house was flooded.
“Our house is about a metre or so off the ground and within about 15 to 20 minutes – with us panicking trying to pack some clothes and a little food for us – the water was running through the house and probably up to our knees.”
Hayley said the neighbour who had called – a volunteer firefighter – then came to the rescue.
“She walked down from her house with a pool floaty and put my kids on the floaty and me and my husband walked out up to her house and it was up to our necks, so it would’ve been over the kids heads.”
She was struggling to keep it together
“I was yelling. It was scary but we just wanted to quickly get out.”
Floodwaters damaged about 50 homes homes in Ōhura, five of them seriously.
Hayley could not understand why there was not more warning.
“I don’t think there was much warning. I think they know the points or something when the water gets to a level, but there was no siren, there was no nothing to say maybe you should move your car or do this.
“We thought we were fine otherwise we would’ve got prepared, packed the car and the kids and moved to higher ground.”
The flood level. RNZ / Robin Martin
It was Sophie Stockbridge who came to the couple’s aid.
“So, I was on the phone with Civil Defence at midnight and then I was on the phone with Civil Defence at 1am saying we are evacuating and then I swam two children out of their home.
“At 1am I happened to have a floaty in the car because I’d been at the pool that day and at the time it was the only thing I had available to help them out.”
Also a Taumaranui Ōhura community board member, Stockbridge said the speed of the flood caught people off guard.
“The water came up fast that’s what we found. Usually the water creeps and we get warning. This time the water came up so fast people were reporting they were waking up to wet feet.
“We were able to get everyone out to safety, but though knee deep, through waist deep, through shoulder deep water.”
She said the flood siren being down complicated matters.
“We know Ōhura floods, we are very aware that Ōhura floods. We weren’t prepared for the speed it flooded this time.
“There is an ongoing issue with the flood sirens in Ōhura which I’m told will be sorted as a priority now to give our people more warning for next time.”
Sophie Stockbridge helped rescue two children from her neighbour’s home. RNZ / Robin Martin
Horizons manager emergency management, Chay Hook, said the siren on the Ōhura Bridge was disabled a few months ago as it had been going off unexpectedly, often in the early hours of the morning.
“A work plan was put in place to replace the alarm, and a contingency plan was also put in place to alert Ōhura residents if river levels rose.”
The contingency plan included: automated phone calls to those registered to Horizons’ flood watch service, Civil Defence door knocking, social media posts prior to and during the flood event, direct contact with community members, and an Emergency Mobile Alert.
The plan was fully implemented during the recent flooding, Hook said.
The parts for a new alarm system were on the way and would be installed once they arrived.
“The new system will be an upgrade on the old one, having additional features and improved integration with Horizons’ flood warning and monitoring systems.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
