Edgecumbe residents return to their homes after four nights away

BITTERSWEET: Krichelle Te Riini, left, has lost her home but is pleased that some relatives have returned to theirs. PHOTO / JOHN BORREN

Some residents of flood-ravaged Edgecumbe have been allowed to re-occupy their homes after four nights staying with friends, family or in makeshift accommodation.

Houses in the southeastern part of town were largely unaffected by flooding because they were on the other side of the river from the stopbank which burst open on Thursday.

A checkpoint manned by police and Army staff was moved early today to allow access to 46 homes in those parts of town in and around Hydro Rd.

Residents drove into the sleepy quarter with cars and SUVs loaded with possessions they'd fled with on Thursday or obtained on Sunday during a period in which they were briefly allowed to return for essential items.

"It's good to be back home," said Reg Te Riini from the front deck of his home. "It just feels great."

Although the residents were pleased to return, many were concerned about the flood's effects on friends and relatives on the "wet" side of town.

"We've got family to worry about," said Vanessa Peka, who returned to town with her partner, 11-year-old daughter and a puppy.

"But we're just elated to be back - when you've been crowded in a house with four families ..."

Krichelle Te Riini, 25, visited her grandfather on the dry side today - the same day she was due to give birth to a fourth child.

Her own newly-renovated home was in the flood zone. She had briefly visited it on Sunday to find a smashed gate outside and chaos inside.

"It's just gross," she said. "There was grey silt everywhere, and it was all brown in the bath. I nearly slipped on the lino."

She believed that much of the house would have to be rebuilt. Her children, aged 3, 6 and 9, "don't believe that it's been wrecked".

The contents were uninsured.

Richard Savage

Across the road, keen deerstalker Richard Savage, 79, arrived home and went straight to the freezer to check that the electricity had kept his venison frozen.

It had.

It felt "brilliant" to be back, he said.

The man who stayed behind

Glen Paris

Glen Paris was at home last Thursday afternoon when a fire engine drove down the street with its siren blaring, and people came knocking on doors to order an evacuation.

Mr Paris was confident that his side of the river would not be flooded, so he decided to stay put.

"I hunkered down," he said. "I spoke to a policeman, and he told me to shut the curtains, doors and windows so that it looked like no one was here. And that's what I did."

Mr Paris' rented home is next to a stopbank. By standing on his bed, he could see the water level on the embankment on the other side of the river. It reached its highest point at 3pm on Thursday, just a couple of hours after most other people had fled.

The flood broke through on the other side of the river, with just enough water seeping through the stopbank on Mr Paris' side to puddle his driveway.

Mr Paris, a painter, spent the next couple of days watching TV, listening to the radio and drinking water he'd bottled in advance.

Police must have kept his details because on Saturday he was given five minutes' notice to evacuate.

After leaving town, he bought an air mattress and a jug so that he could stay with some clients.

Yesterday, he was among several hundred residents allowed to briefly visit their homes to collect "essential" items. He grabbed his TV and Sky decoder so he could watch the Warriors' league game.

Today, he was allowed to return permanently.

"It's been okay," he said of the past four days. "It's just cost me a couple of hundred bucks."

- Scott K MacLeod