Willem Kupa will never forget the moment he saw his father coming to the rescue of him and his three young children – driving a tractor while braving surging floodwaters in rural Hawke’s Bay.
Kupa was on his Fernhill property with his children aged 6, 5 and 3 when the area was swamped by quickly-rising floodwaters two weeks ago.
Water on some properties in the area and nearby Omahu and Pakowhai was as high as the rooflines of houses.
Kupa said the massive wall of water came so quickly there was no way his young family could escape safely by car.
As the water rapidly rose around and through the family home, refuge came through the heroic actions of his dad, Mare Kupa, who braved the force and height of the water in a tractor to rescue his loved ones.
When asked how he felt when he saw his dad come to the rescue, Kupa said: “Oh man, I have never loved dad so much.
“I was pretty thankful when he came through. It was great to see the old man come in with the tractor.”
The quartet finally made it to safety about 7am after Mare Kupa’s mercy dash.
Fortunately, cellphone communications were still working prior to their rescue, meaning Kupa had been able to keep in touch with both his father and his neighbour.
“The scariest moment was when the water was rising just so fast in the house,” he said.
“There was one moment there, when the water was in the house and we were waiting for dad, I sat the kids up on the [breakfast bar] and was trying to calm them. Everyone was freaking out, but I didn’t want to freak out in front of the kids ... that would have made it even worse.
“I didn’t want to take the risk of driving and being pushed down to the river in the vehicle.”
Soaked, but relieved, Kupa had no time to relax.
With his three young children safe, he decided to take charge of the large tractor and go back into the floodwaters to rescue his neighbours.
“At the moment you were just going on adrenaline, it is just like that still now. I didn’t even know why I was doing stuff ... you just naturally reacted,” he said.
“When I went back in to get my neighbours, the water was almost coming into the cab of the tractor. It was level with the top of the front tyres. They climbed over the wheel, jumped in and we drove out.”
While the Kupas and their neighbours made it to safety, sadly a lot of Willem Kupa’s stock died in the natural disaster.
The scenes of his animals drowning was heartbreaking to witness, he said.
“Driving out, we could see our stock and our sheep just pinned up against the fence. They were just drowning,” he said.
“I tried to whack the fence down with the bucket, but couldn’t even see the fence because the water was higher than it. I just had to go [and leave the stock], get out and go to safety.”
With the help of the tractor again, Kupa managed to get through floodwater, silt and mud to check on his house.
After watching some of his stock dying in front of him, further heartache awaited when he made it to his home.
“It was just devastating, not a sight you want to see again,” he said. “We lost everything ... our vehicles and everything in the home.”
Like so many in Hawke’s Bay, Kupa and other family members are trying to clear out his house which was swamped by the floodwaters and heavy mud and silt.
When he is not working on his own home, he is spending time helping neighbours and other loved ones clean their wrecked homes.
On Sunday, he took time out to enjoy some hospitality at the Clive Rugby and Sports Club which opened its doors and hearts to club members and non-club members who had been impacted by the cyclone.
“It’s a nice morale booster,” Kupa said of the event, which included a free roast meal.
“Since it happened there have been a lot of down moments ... just like going back to see your house wrecked and all your belongings gone.”
Two weeks on, Kupa said his children were doing well after the ordeal.
The biggest issue for one had been the loss of her snuggly toy she took to bed every night.
“She sobbed for a couple of hours,” Kupa said. “We managed to get her a replacement which she is now happy with.
“I took them back to the first house on Saturday and they said, ‘Dad, I think our house is broken.’ But they were still happy running around.”
The father of three said the full magnitude of how Cyclone Gabrielle had impacted his family’s life had still yet to sink in for him.
But one thing that had sunk in was how lucky he and his children were, and how brave his father was.
“I don’t think it has hit me fully,” he said.
“I am just so thankful to dad.
“We have the whanau around us, and we are also trying to help out all of those around us.
“I know of a lot of other communities who are a lot worse off than us [in Fernhill]. There are a lot of damaged communities. A lot of people have lost everything.”
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