Heartbreak on Konene Place

By RENEE KIRIONA

Since April, Peter and Ineke van Maren have spent $40,000 renovating their Edgecumbe home.

It took just two hours for their investment to go down the drain.

The van Marens are among 50 or more residents in the Eastern Bay of Plenty town whose homes were shattered by the Sunday morning floods.

Their house in Konene Place was so flooded that they could only reach it by inflatable boat.

As they approached their sliding door they saw their kitchen sink, drapes, new furniture and other belongings floating around in the lounge.

"We're absolutely devastated and I'll be dammed if I'm going to repeat all that work again," said Mr van Maren. "We're going to have to get in contractors this time."

The van Marens were evacuated on Sunday morning and their street was among the worst hit in Edgecumbe.

"It happened so fast we didn't get time to grab anything but our car," said Mrs van Maren. "It was that bad that I had to go and buy me some underwear and a tooth brush on Monday.

"The only things we have been able to salvage are our wall hangings, but photos from my side of the family [almost 100 years old] are gone."

For Gordon and Elaine Lavender, who live on the same road, the floods brought even more heartache.

"We've just returned and found that our animals are dead," said Mr Lavender. "They are all lying on the backyard, feathers everywhere. I can't even take you in there to have a look because it hurts too much."

At 1.7m, the water level was so high that if the diminutive 63-year-old had stood at his front doorstep at the time of the flooding he would have been overcome with water.

"We've got a two-storey house but the first floor is totally ruined. I'm not angry, I'm just really sad. Our animals were like children to us."

The Lavenders lost 11 chooks, a cat and two budgies, but were able to save their dog and another cat.

Yesterday Konene Place was still the scene of much action as firefighters pumped trapped floodwater into a nearby creek and paddled through waist-high water rescuing household pets for two elderly women.

Grey clouds moving over the town caused fears among the residents, with weather forecasts predicting more rain last night.

"Hopefully mother nature will show us some mercy, but if not then I suppose we will have to keep battling on," Mr Lavender said.

But on the other side of town, in Edgecumbe east, life was returning to normal.

At Totara Rd, which was transformed from a typical small town street into a shallow lake on Sunday, residents had already begun to hang belongings out to dry.

Carmen Taylor counted herself lucky because the floods only went as far as her top doorstep.

"All the gardens are dead but most of the stuff in the house is salvageable," she said. "I can call my partner and son to come home. It feels like we've been away for ages."

While most residents on the east of the town have moved home, those in Konene Place are not expected to return permanently for two weeks at least.