The Puketapu Bridge collapses under the weight of the water. Video / Matt Wheatley
In the middle of one of the most destructive cyclones New Zealand has ever seen, residents in Puketapu have found that a natural disaster is one of the best ways to get to know your neighbours.
Matt Wheatley lives on Swamp Rd, which was transformed into a river by floodwaters, but his property was able to get through relatively unscathed compared to other street-facing properties.
He and fellow Swamp Rd resident Marc Wynands filmed the moment a single-lane bridge on Vicarage Rd collapsed and was swept away by rushing water.
He sent his drone up in the pouring rain on Tuesday morning to help fire services search for people trapped on the roofs of nearby houses.
He was able to locate a family on a roof and said another property he flew by had a woman and her six-month-old baby trapped inside on the second floor for over five hours as water crept up the stairs.
He said the surrounding farms growing onions had been annihilated and every house down Swamp Rd was covered in what he estimates to be millions of onions.
A house flooded on Swamp Rd on Tuesday morning. Photo / Matt Wheatley
He said the cyclone had brought the community together.
Wheatley’s neighbour Hamish Gilbert assisted with some rescues using his tractor, and also helped clean up some of those affected by the flooding nearby.
He said he had returned from being out of the region on Monday night last week to torrential rain, which eased off as he got closer to home before returning full force after midnight.
He said if someone was to stand on Swamp Rd today, they would not believe where the high water mark reached, but it was evidenced by the ruined houses.
“It is something you will never see again in your life,” Gilbert said.
“If you go up Ōmarunui Settlement Rd, you’ll see 40-foot containers on top of piles of trash and household objects several feet high.”
Swamp Rd turned into a racing river on Tuesday morning, with only a lucky few properties spared. Photo / Matt Wheatley
He said he had been taken aback by how people had come together afterwards.
“People who haven’t spoken to each other for six to eight years are now the best of friends.”
Eli Rickard had only moved into his home three weeks earlier when he awoke on Tuesday morning to see rushing waters crawl over the surrounding houses and orchards from his property - luckily located on a hill.
“It was good in a way, because now we know everybody,” he said.
