Nelson floods: Man winched to safety in dramatic night-time rescue

A Nelson man unable to walk had to be winched to safety in a dramatic rescue operation in the early hours of this morning amidst wild weather.

Dramatic footage has emerged of Maitai resident Francis Lagrutta lying flat on a stretcher, tied to the hook of a fire truck's extended crane arm.

He is then lifted into the air from his Attmore Tce home which was under threat from slips.

A man who is unable to walk had to be airlifted to safety after his Nelson home was deemed unsafe due to high risk of slips. Photo / Supplied

His partner Victoria Fisher told the Herald they had been awoken by the wild weather in the region, and at 10.30pm last night, three of the eight pine trees in front of the house fell on to their cars, resulting in a massive blockage to access the street.

"At that time the fire and emergency services did not think we were in immediate danger, so we stayed in.

"However, this morning at 4am, they came back and told us the property was unsafe due to water coming down and moving the earth below us."

Fisher said they all had to be evacuated using the fire truck, as there was no way to walk, or use a vehicle to get out.

"We were trapped on our property with no way to exit.

A Nelson man who is unable to walk was airlifted by a fire truck after home was deemed unsafe following a slip this morning. Photo / George Heard

"Firefighters had to extend their ladder to where we were up at the top, and then one by one we came down the ladder, one of the firemen took my two dogs down to us."

She said her husband had recently had a hip operation, so he had to be lifted out by a crane arm as he lay prone on the stretcher.

Firefighters had to rescue a Nelson family after 40-year-old pine trees in front of their property fell due to saturated ground. Photo / George Heard

Fisher said she was a little bit worried about the rest of the trees falling as they were huge and could cause great damage limiting access to her property.

"There is a volume of water coming down from the hillside at the back of my house, this water can compromise the roots of these 40-year-old trees causing them to fall."