Hawke’s Bay’s evacuees and flood victims: Wairoa mother and children make narrow escape

A Wairoa single mother has recounted her frightening escape from rising floodwaters with her four kids, after a call from her dad to “get out now”.

A total of 116 homes were inundated on Wednesday morning when the Wairoa River flooded.

There is growing frustration within the northern Hawke’s Bay township that the flooding could have been prevented if the bar at the Wairoa River mouth had been cleared earlier by Hawke’s Bay Regional Council.

Resident Ally Tipu has lived in her family’s home on Apatu St for over 30 years, and received a call from her dad about 6am on Wednesday warning her to evacuate with her four children - aged 2, 3, 7 and 8.

Wairoa flood victims Nicole Tipu-Repko (left), Karen Paku, homeowner Ally Tipu and her child Pipiwharauroa, 2. Photo / Paul Taylor

“My dad rang me just before the state of emergency [alert came through on my phone].

“He kept ringing and I said ‘what?’

“He said ‘are you all right’ and he said ‘we have flooded and you and the kids need to get out now - can you get out? I can’t come and get you’.”

Tipu scrambled to get her kids into the car in the dark, as her eldest told her the water was rising outside.

It had not quite reached inside the house when they left.

However, the rising water caused her car to become stuck on the road outside her home.

“I was thinking ‘why won’t you go’, the car was making all these noises.

“My kids are screaming and saying ‘Mum why won’t you go?’”

The whole family were panicking when her neighbours, Shaz and Jordan Ngahungahu, came running up to the car.

They grabbed all the kids between them and waded through the very chilly water, which was near hip-deep, up the road to safety.

Tipu said the water had a strong current and she was scared to let go of any of her children.

When the kids were safe with her dad and sister, Tipu went back and saved her two dogs - by which time water had flooded her home.

She stayed at her niece’s home and was picking up the pieces on Thursday, including saving children’s certificates and awards from her badly flooded home, where shin-height water swept through the house.

Neighbour Jordan Ngahungahu said he and his wife evacuated with their three kids, before coming back down the flooded street and found Alley Tipu stuck in her car (pictured) with her children. Photo / Paul Taylor

“It was bad. I have lived here my whole life and never seen it like this.”

She said the bar at the rivermouth needed to be better managed and she believed the flooding was preventable.

“I feel for my whole town. It did not just happen to me, it happened to a lot of people,” Tipu said.

She said a huge thank you to her neighbours for coming to help.

Tipu’s family said her vehicle, which had to be abandoned in the street, had been targeted by looters since the flooding.

Neighbour Jordan Ngahungahu said he and his wife evacuated with their three kids, before coming back down the flooded street and finding Tipu stuck in her car with her children.

There is growing frustration within Wairoa that the flooding could have been prevented. Photo / Paul Taylor

He said she would have done the same for them if the situation was reversed, and it was a close-knit community.

His wife, Shaz Ngahungahu, said it had been a tough couple of days but the support had been amazing from the community.

“It is really mentally and emotionally draining knowing you have just lost everything,” she said, of their flooded home.

“But we are getting there with all the support of our whānau.”