Flooding on the family's property during the March 26 downpours. Inset: From left, Bethany Edmunds-Cook, Anaru Cook, 7-year-old Kapowairua and 10-year-old Tuituia.
Northland dad Anaru Cook waded through surging floodwaters to find his two daughters standing in a waist-deep torrent inside their nan’s home.
His whānau are dealing with the devastation caused by the March 26 floods, that neighbours described as the worst they had seen in decades.
About 1pm that day, Cook drove home to the family’s whenua at Takahue, southwest of Kaitāia.
There he found ankle-deep water building in the valley, about 10m from the already full Takahue River.
“The river was surging, and you could hear the rolling timber crash on the other trees,” Cook said.
He found his wife, Bethany Edmunds-Cook, walking toward their studio.
She told Cook their two daughters were helping their 74-year-old nan at her whare.
Knowing their children were safe, the pair began moving items in the studio higher, in case of floodwaters.
Cook looked out from the studio and saw the water surging.
“Honestly, in 15 minutes [the water] went from ankles up to knees.”
The winds were howling, Cook said.
Needing to go to their daughters, the couple stepped off the deck of the studio into cold water that reached their hips.
They waded 50m to Bethany’s mother’s home. Inside, were their daughters standing in waist-deep water.
The youngest daughter, 7-year-old Kapowairua, was crying.
Cook hooked his daughter under his arm and carried her about 30m against the current to higher ground. He headed back for 10-year-old Tuituia.
By then, the water had reached his chest.
Once Tuituia was safe, Cook found his mother-in-law. She was in the kitchen desperately trying to save her belongings.
“I saw the worry and concern in her eyes,” he said.
Cook told her to head to higher ground and went to save her van, which had miraculously started.
He drove it a few metres before water rose over the windscreen and it stopped, blocking the only access to the property.
Cook grabbed a tow hook from his four-wheel-drive and with it in his hand, submerged himself in the floodwaters to find the hook point.
His legs were pulled downstream as he held onto the grill.
When he resurfaced, Bethany told him to leave the van. Together they headed to higher ground.
“All we could do was just watch that flood come in,” Cook said.
As the water rose, it crept closer to their home.
To stay safe, the couple sent their daughters to their aunties, and Bethany went to her father’s home. Cook stayed behind.
Seeing the torrent and debris made him wonder how they would manage in the coming days.
“I mean, you only see this stuff on movies ... when you’re in it, you just have an out-of-body experience,” Cook said.
“I could see everything happening around me ... watching myself ... struggle.”
By morning, everything in their studio was flood-damaged. Two vehicles were waterlogged and caked in mud. Floodwaters had engulfed the whole of Bethany’s mother’s home.
Miraculously, the couple’s home was undamaged, but Cook said they had lost 70% of their livelihood - all uninsured.
He said his music records and DJ gear could be replaced but not their teaching resources or Bethany’s taonga collection.
The resources, built up over 30 years, were used by the couple for their community kaupapa Toi Oho, which works with schools to support children’s wellbeing through creative, culturally grounded programmes.
On Tuesday, the couple was meant to be hosting a wānanga with seven schools.
“We had about a 100 plus students we were bringing together in the whare to help with their emotional resilience. But I think we need the help with emotional resilience today.”
Bethany, a renowned weaver, had built up a cache of museum and art exhibition items over the years for their daughters to inherit.
“It’s been pretty heart-wrenching to go through and just try and salvage as much as possible,” she said.
The pair was in awe of the manaakitanga (generosity/kindness) shown to them by whānau and neighbours after the floods.
People had offered labour, babysitting and bought food. Civil Defence and even the Navy had turned up to help.
The couple was told by neighbours that the flooding was the worst seen in 35 years.
A Givealittle page has been set up to support the family as they rebuild and restore their community kaupapa.
Brodie Stone covers crime and emergency for the Northern Advocate. She has spent most of her life in Whangārei and is passionate about delving into issues that matter to Northlanders and beyond.