A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
A quiet backyard creek turned into a raging torrent undermining a house on Jellicoe Street during the worst hours of Cyclone Gabrielle on Monday night.
Tenants of the tidy weatherboard home near the corner of Jellicoe and Oswald streets were evacuated by Civil Defence at about 1.30am on Tuesday.
Neighbourssaid yesterday they became aware of trouble at the property after being woken by flashing lights on a Civil Defence vehicle.
In the light of day, the damage was clear — a bank at the rear corner of the house had subsided as the creek took its normal course but hit a bend with much greater force than usual. Part of the roof on a covered carport attached to the house was left hanging as a concrete retaining wall, which helped to support it, slid down a bank.
One neighbour described the normally quiet creek as having turned that night into a “rushing, gushing, pumping” water force.
Neighbours were not aware of the creek damaging any other properties. They believed everyone associated with the affected property was alert to the potential for a problem, which became apparent during ex-tropical Cyclone Hale a few weeks earlier.
The Gisborne Herald was unable to locate the owner for comment due to a current lack of phone and internet services.
