The death toll from Cyclone Gabrielle has reached nine people as emergency teams continue to search for missing people.
Video / Mark Mitchell / George Heard / Mike Scott
As her caravan was swept away from its campsite in Esk Valley by the deadly wall of water created by Cyclone Gabrielle, Pam Yarnold resorted to doing what she loves best – pulling out her crochet gear.
The 81-year-old lived in her cherished caravan at the Eskdale Caravan Park, in an area which was worst hit by the cyclone which tore through from Monday night into Tuesday morning.
The caravan was swept off its site by the water – described by one other resident as being “sea-like” and with “big waves” roaring hundreds of metres across Esk Valley.
While Yarnold was awake during the torrential rain that hammered the area, and saw floodwaters seeping into her caravan, she didn’t realise the full nature of the ordeal that she went through until rescuers found her on Tuesday.
She knew the situation was bad, but just not how bad.
That includes the fact the flooding had picked up her caravan and dragged it into a paddock, or that if it wasn’t for a pile of large wooden apple bins and downed cables, her home would have been submerged, costing her her life.
Pam Yarnold, 81, has spoken of her miracle survival in Cyclone Gabrielle, after her caravan was swept away in Esk Valley, and all the while she crocheted. Photo / Neil Reid
“All the time I was grabbing my crochet, and grabbing a few bits and pieces,” a relieved Yarnold told the Herald.
“It was like, if I was to go I wanted to be doing something that bought me joy. I love crochet.”
“The apple bins and cables from the powerlines saved my life.
“I later found that my caravan had been stopped from going further ... struck some apple crates and cables, probably power lines. The crates helped keep the caravan upright – it had rolled over, I would have been gone.
“It felt like I was in this quiet pool and from what I have been told the river was just raging either side of me. I wasn’t meant to go [die] at that time. I had just floated away.
“I am just amazed it floated like it did and didn’t leak . . . there would have been no escape for me.”
Help came after management of the Eskdale Caravan Park started moving around property in the area and saw her caravan, and Yarnold calling for help.
“I was hanging out the window,” she recalled.
“I heard voices and then saw the owner of the caravan park and waved. The owner said, ‘Is that you Pam?’.
“I said, ‘Yeah’, and he replied: ‘Oh my God, I will go and get help’. He broke down afterwards when he got me out.”
Yarnold’s ordeal ended at about 1.30pm on Tuesday, more than 13 hours after the flooding had started hammering the area.
“It wasn’t until the guys got me out that I realised how huge the waves were and how big the waters had been,” she said.
“Some people I have talked to since said they had seen the caravan floating away and said it looked like it was just spinning around like it was in a washing machine,” she said.
Some of the devastation left in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle through Esk Valley. Photo / Warren Buckland
“Because of the bins and wires, I didn’t really feel it moving very much. That is why I was so surprised where I had ended up . . . I didn’t recognise where I was. There was so much water.
“I still can’t believe what happened. It was weird.”
When asked if she planned to buy a Lotto ticket or anything else to celebrate her survived, she said: “What with? I lost everything.
“I have lived in the campground for years. That is all I had. Thank goodness the car and the caravan are insured.”
At least nine people have lost their lives in Cyclone Gabrielle; including two volunteer firefighters in Muriwai as well as several people in Hawke’s Bay, including a 2-year-old.
But locals in Esk Valley who escaped with their lives say they sadly expect numerous other people in the area to have perished.
A temporary morgue was yesterday set up at the Napier port.
Yarnold said the deaths were tragic, and she feared the death toll would continue to climb.
“There has been a few more apparently,” she said.
“Over the years I have lost my own family, so I know how they [loved ones of those killed] feel. There will be more [loss of life].”
Like several others who lost their homes and belongings, Yarnold has been cared for at the Bay View Welfare Centre, which was rapidly set up at the Bay View Hotel & Holiday Park.
Publican Adrienne Morrin wasted no time in opening the doors to her pub on Tuesday morning when she started hearing of the devastation nearby.
Bay View Hotel & Holiday Park publican Adrienne Morrin has opened her doors to devastated Esk Valley locals who were evacuated out of the area devastated by Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / Neil Reid
Yarnold said she and others couldn’t thank Morrin and the team of volunteers at the pub enough.
“It has been absolutely incredible,” she said.
“The people have been absolutely amazing; everybody has looked after everybody. I couldn’t fault it.”
Yarnold is now trying to be reunited with family based in Waipukurau.
