An aerial view shows extensive flooding in the Hawke's Bay region. Video / Photography by Corena
A couple in their 70s miraculously survived being swept to their deaths by the deadly wall of water created by Cyclone Gabrielle, thanks partly to guttering on a house and the frame of a demolished greenhouse.
At least 11 people died in the aftermath of the cyclone which swept down the North Island early last week.
Police in the Eastern District – one of the hardest hit areas by the cyclone – say that as of 9pm Thursday there are still 23 people who remain unaccounted for.
The death toll would be considerably higher if it wasn’t for the heroic actions of those who put the safety of others ahead of their own to rescue them; as well as multiple incredibly lucky escapes including those of a couple in their 70s in Esk Valley, on the outskirts of Napier, on Tuesday morning.
The pair were sleeping in their caravan when the surging water flow - described by local Michael McKendry as “less of a flood, more of a tsunami event with the speed [of it]” - smashed its way through the valley taking lives, houses and businesses with it.
McKendry was first alerted to the life and death situation when his family – including wife Kelly and 14-year-old daughter Chloe – were escaping onto the roof of their house around 6.30am last Tuesday.
“They . . . were swept from their caravan and were being carried through by the torrent,” he told the Herald.
“When we went out our kitchen window, we heard her [the 70-year-old lady] screaming as she went past. The waters were just insane at that point; you couldn’t just go after her . . . you would go yourself.”
Initially, the McKendry’s feared the lady had been swept away to possible death.
But as the destruction in Esk Valley continued, they later could hear her calling for help nearby; miraculously she had managed to grab hold of part of the frame of a badly damaged commercial-sized greenhouse.
“But she managed to make it through the tree line [nearby] and was holding onto one of the greenhouses next door,” he said. “We didn’t know she had managed to just grab hold of that.”
Joining the McKendry’s on their roof was next-door neighbour Max Robertson.
As darkness still shrouded the battered Esk Valley, a double miracle happened with the woman’s husband managing to escape the surging water flow by grabbing hold of a piece of the guttering on the McKendry family home.
An aerial view of some of the devastation caused by Cyclone Gabrielle flooding in Esk Valley, near Napier. New Zealand Herald Photograph by George Heard
“Chloe was calling out to me that Max needed my help,” McKendry said.
“The lady’s husband had been able to grab a piece of our guttering, that was his first point of contact . . . he grabbed that bit of guttering and was just holding onto me.
“Me and Max pulled him up on the roof.”
The man was wearing just a T-shirt, underpants and socks.
“Dogs are idiots most of the time but one of ours got a bit of an idea about the situation. I was behind the guy and one of our dogs laid down on the two of us [keeping him warm],” McKendry said.
Multiple homes in Esk Valley had no defence against the wave of flood water and silt. New Zealand Herald Photograph by George Heard
“We had been hearing the lady crying out for help most of the night . . . we could see her hands [on the greenhouse frame]. She managed to pull her head up a couple of times.”
When the waters started to recede, Robertson bravely swam out to the stricken woman – who suffers from epilepsy.
He wrapped her in a jacket and created a “nest” for her to shelter in until she could be rescued.
Help eventually came for her via three men in a jet boat. She was eventually airlifted to the hospital, with McKendry saying he had been told she had since recovered.
The McKendrys were alerted to what was unfolding at 2.45am last Tuesday when the flood water started leaking through the bottom of their single-level home’s windows.
Within half an hour the water was up to calf level throughout the house.
“Max [our neighbour] waved us down and tried to get us across to him,” McKendry said. “We tried to get across the water, couldn’t, and went back into our house as that was the safest place at that point.
Homes and livelihoods were destroyed by the flooding and wall of silt created by Cyclone Gabrielle. New Zealand Herald Photograph by George Heard
“At 4.11am we have a video of us sitting on our couch on top of the kitchen table just waiting for there to be a little bit of light so that we could go out; you don’t want to go out in the pitch dark.”
With the water continuing to rapidly rise, the McKendry’s then sought shelter on their roof at about 6.30am.
“We got out the back window onto a shelf I had built a couple of months ago,” he said. “I didn’t think it could hold a person, but it did.
“We went out onto the roof and it [the water] was still climbing. It got up to the gutters.”
“It has just been incredible. As it is a bach in a holiday area, the calm and the space to recuperate is fantastic. We have a vehicle to borrow from the girls’ dad and we are buying the bits and pieces that are important, like toothbrushes and undies.
“It has just been incredible. As it is a Bach in a holiday area, the calm and the space to recuperate is fantastic. We have a vehicle to borrow from the girls’ dad and we are buying the bits and pieces that are important, like toothbrushes and undies.
“We only got with the jacket and bits and pieces we got out with. But we’re alive,”
The McKendry family moved to Esk Valley in mid-2020.
McKendry said the flooding and devastation wouldn’t see them move out of the area.
But when they do rebuild, it would be in an elevated spot.
