Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

Kaeo man swims to house to save pigs after flood waters rise rapidly

Danica MacLean
By Danica MacLean
Multimedia Journalist, Newstalk ZB·Northern Advocate·
12 Feb, 2018 09:15 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Flood waters lap at the door of Gary Whitehead's Kaeo home around 1.5 metres off the ground. Photo/Supplied

Flood waters lap at the door of Gary Whitehead's Kaeo home around 1.5 metres off the ground. Photo/Supplied

A Kaeo man was forced to swim to his house after flood waters rose rapidly this morning.

Gary Whitehead said he was meant to be going fishing, but canned the idea because of teh rough weather.

With no cellphone coverage, he left his Pupuke Rd home at 6am to meet his friend and fishing buddy to let him know the trip was off.

"I came back at 6.30am and the water was up to my shoulders."

He plunged into the flood waters to swim back to his house where his wife and three dogs were waiting.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Mr Whitehead and his wife have lived in the house for five years, and have experienced 16 floods.

"We've never had one this bad, it's the first one that's actually come in the house."

Mr Whitehead said his house is raised about 1.5m off the ground, but about 3cm of water covered the floor of their home.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

His home was on sloping land and at the lowest point on the property the water was over three metres deep.

At 10.15am he said the water had receded and was about half a metre deep.

He rescued his two pigs who were trying to swim to escaped a flooded pig pen, while some ducks and chickens had been washed away or drowned.

The engine of his boat was completely underwater, and he believes his wife's car would be a write off due to flooding damage.

Discover more

New Zealand

Schools cancelled, roads closed as flooding hits parts of NZ

12 Feb 09:14 PM

Mr Whitehead was worried about the next high tide.

"We've lifted everything we can in the house, we're just sitting here waiting."

He said he can't run water or flush the toilet because their water pump is underwater.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northern Advocate

Northern Advocate

'Didn't think I was going very fast': Uncle pleads guilty after toddler's fatal fall from ute

09 Jul 07:41 AM
Northern Advocate

Art exhibition marks Whangārei’s place in Rainbow Warrior bombing 40 years on

09 Jul 12:00 AM
Northern Advocate

National Māori leader stands for Northland Regional Council

08 Jul 05:00 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

'Didn't think I was going very fast': Uncle pleads guilty after toddler's fatal fall from ute

'Didn't think I was going very fast': Uncle pleads guilty after toddler's fatal fall from ute

09 Jul 07:41 AM

Aitua Puriri said he didn't believe he was driving very fast at the time his nephew fell.

Art exhibition marks Whangārei’s place in Rainbow Warrior bombing 40 years on

Art exhibition marks Whangārei’s place in Rainbow Warrior bombing 40 years on

09 Jul 12:00 AM
National Māori leader stands for Northland Regional Council

National Māori leader stands for Northland Regional Council

08 Jul 05:00 PM
News in brief: Deadline extended for story submissions

News in brief: Deadline extended for story submissions

08 Jul 05:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP