Northland community rallies around well-loved Mangawhai teacher after home destroyed

Jackie Fanning fled her home in the nick of time as a massive landslide ripped the house from its piles and spun it around to land on her van.

The Mangawhai Beach School teacher escaped with only the clothes she was wearing. In fact, it wasn’t until Fanning reached safety that she realised she had no shoes on.

Her ordeal unfolded as Mangawhai was slammed with up to 370mm of rainfall in the 24 hours to midnight on Friday. The deluge caused major slips and flooding that destroyed roads and stranded travellers.

Fanning bought the house, perched on a slope, less than a year ago. Although the property is insured, getting her life back on track would require a lot of running around over a long period of time.

She is currently staying with her sister in Auckland while family and friends help raise much-needed funds for her.

A Givealittle page set up on Saturday had raised just over $25,000 by 6pm yesterday for the much-loved teacher and community activist.

Fanning is an active member of the Mangawhai Waka Ama Club as well as the Marunui Conservation, dedicated to protecting native species in the area.

She had to navigate her 4WD through three patches of floodwaters as she drove home from work at around 3.30pm on Friday.

“The rain had stopped for about 30 minutes when I got home and I was like ‘thank goodness’,” Fanning said.

“I was glad because I had the downpipe open so there was no flooding. But it started raining and in five minutes, there was heaps of water.”

Jackie Fanning is still reeling from the sheer scale of destruction from landslides that destroyed her home. Photo / Supplied

Fanning went outside to move a generator to higher ground but when she returned to the lounge, she heard a big rumble.

“I thought a big tree had come down,” she said. “Because I had lived in Christchurch, the thought of an earthquake also flashed through my mind.”

She looked out the back of her home and saw slips were a mere centimetre away from touching the back door.

“I looked up the hill and saw more come down. I then ran out but stupidly ran back in to turn the lights off.”

By the time Fanning got to the back doorstep a “big mudslide” had closed in on the house.

“Basically, I just ran with just the clothes I was wearing,” she said.

“The slips were coming down as I was running.”

Fanning ran to a friend’s house.

“The slips were coming down as I was running", says Jackie Fanning. Photo / Supplied

She said she was “pretty lucky” as the worst slip happened after she had left.

When her friend looked at her home about an hour later, there had been four or five more slips that changed the landscape.

Her home had left its piles and rotated 90 degrees.

“My house is now at the ground level. My van was caught in another slide because it wasn’t where I’d parked it,” Fanning said.

She plans to rebuild her house somewhere else and felt indebted to everyone who is supporting her with donations and other acts of kindness.

Fanning’s sister said in a social media post that their family all felt thankful to still have her with them.

The teacher’s friends and colleagues said she was a valued member of the Mangawhai community, where she also ran and promoted environmental education for children and their families.

Mangawhai Beach School deputy principal Emma Grieve said setting up the fundraising page was a team effort. They hoped to help Fanning rebuild her home, which she had worked hard for, and to help replace her lost belongings and van.

“She does so much for everybody else and now it’s our turn to help her. She’s the most loving, giving person ever.

“Please support us in supporting a beautiful lady who gives so much to others daily,” Grieve said.

Mangawhai Waka Ama club treasurer Ingrid, who didn’t want her last name used, said Fanning has been a great community crusader.

Being a conservationist, she said it was ironic Fanning became a victim of mother nature.

“She lost her personal waka as well and we’d love to see her get a waka but there’s a lot of day-to-day things she’ll initially need. Her insurance will pay for some of the stuff but sentimental things are hard to replace.”

Ingrid has known Fanning since the time both lived in Christchurch years ago, before moving to Mangawhai.