Cyclone Gabrielle: Elderly Hawke’s Bay couple airlifted off roof after 111 call made in Invercargill by relatives

An elderly couple stuck on a roof for five hours have recounted their traumatic ordeal to escape fast-rising floodwaters, including losing grip of their beloved pets as they clambered into a rescue helicopter.

Pakowhai berry farmers Rob and Hine Wilson are still recovering from the harrowing episode after they were forced to climb a ladder, each holding pets in their arms while scaling slippery rungs. They were only saved after a 111 call was made in Invercargill by a relative.

The couple - one a cancer survivor and the other a patient currently in chemotherapy - live on Pakowhai Rd in a small settlement located between Hastings and Napier.

Last Tuesday the couple were in their Pakowhai Rd home unaware of the looming danger outside their property.

Rob told the Herald he looked up from reading his newspaper and suddenly noticed the rising floodwater.

Hine put down her crossword and packed all the important things, including the couple’s medical belongings, in a bag, grabbed the cat, and made her way to the roof.

Pakowhai berry farmers Rob and Hine Wilson with their dog, Bunta. Photo / Jenni Wilson-Kaio

“I told him to get the ladder out and that I wanted to climb on the roof. The water was coming up to the windows,” she said.

The couple went up the ladder holding their cat and beloved dog, Bunta, and fashioned a makeshift shelter on the roof.

“The water reached above the door frame. And it was very deep, the current was very strong,” they said.

Hine got her phone out to send a message to her daughter for help.

“I couldn’t get hold of her,” she said.

Their daughter, Jenni Wilson-Kaio, lives in Mayfair, Hastings where the cyclone had cut her internet connection and power.

“I called my sister-in-law who lives in Invercargill,’’ said Hine.

‘‘She thought we were joking but her husband overheard us and they dialled 111. That is how we got help to be rescued.”

Silt covering Rob and Hine Wilson's Pakowhai Rd property. Photo / Supplied

Once on the roof, the couple was spotted by a rescue helicopter winching people off roofs.

“He came to us and acknowledged our presence but had to go back and then come get us.

“We waited for five hours for the helicopter to help us,” the couple said.

But this was not the end of their difficulties. As the helicopter came close to the roof the animals got spooked with the cat jumping onto the neighbour’s roof. The dog slipped from Rob’s grip and plunged into the raging floodwaters.

“My husband was underwater, I was on the roof and the dog was being washed away in the current.

“I was standing there calling out ‘I lost my dog. I lost my dog’ and I couldn’t see Rob,” Hine said.

The outlook to the front paddock from Rob and Hine Wilson's roof. Photo / Supplied

The helicopter’s co-pilot winched down to the roof and told her to move aside, she said.

“By that time Rob had managed to hold onto a part of the house, but his legs were tangled in something and the weight of wet clothes was making him drown.

“The co-pilot pulled him up and pushed him into the helicopter, which was now at our height. Then he got me inside,” Hine said.

The couple had to abandon their cat, and miraculously, their dog was rescued by a surf lifesaving boat.

“The boat was in front of our house and they managed to pick up our dog. Our dog had beat us to the drop-off point on the other side of Chesterhope Bridge,” Rob said.

A thick layer of silt covers Rob and Hine Wilson's paddock. Photo / Supplied

The couple ended up in Hawke’s Bay Hospital’s Emergency Department.

Both were suffering from hypothermia and Hine had breathing difficulties.

On the other side of the bridge, their daughter Jenni was unaware of what had happened until that afternoon when she received a message from her relatives in Invercargill informing her of her parents’ evacuation.

“The power was still out. I took my bike and raced to mum and dad’s house but I got stopped at the roadblocks over the bridge. I did not know where they were evacuated to.

“I had to come home and wait. By some miracle, dad called me from the hospital in the evening,” she said.

It was an emotional reunion, she said.

“When I got to the hospital, the dog was being cared for by the nurses and police officers were surrounding him.

“As soon as he saw me he ran into my arms.

“The nurses and medical staff all cheered ‘yay, you are here’. I went inside to where mum and dad were. Mum broke down and I cuddled her. Dad appeared from behind the curtain and the dog got excited to see him.”

Because everything the couple wore was saturated the couple were discharged in hospital gowns, Jenni said.

“I had to rummage through my son’s wardrobe to get them something to wear.”

The couple’s boysenberry farm and house were all damaged, covered in thick metre-high silt. They lost 40 sheep as well.

The silver lining is “we managed to retrieve the cat, it was on the roof, grabbing it with claws, traumatised”.

“It is a complete and total shock. The animals are slowly healing from the trauma.

“But as we get through the process of dealing with insurance and other things we are feeling much better,” they said.