Brave dad saves daughter and partner from flooded home by kayak

John Welch (pictured) paddled through fast-flowing floodwaters to rescue his daughter and her partner from the deck of their Coromandel home. Photo / Peter de Graaf, RNZ

By Peter de Graaf of RNZ

A woman rescued by kayak from the deck of her Coromandel home says she has never seen flooding like it – not even during Cyclone Gabrielle.

Jazmyn Welch said when help arrived this morning, her home at Kūaotunu, north of Whitianga, was surrounded by neck-deep, fast-flowing water – and it was still rising.

The first she knew was when her partner, Holly, got up for work about 5.30am.

“She came into the room, burst open the door, and said, ‘You’ve got to get up now, because the whole entire outside of the house is water, like eye-level water.’ It was so high, and it was getting higher and higher.”

Welch called her father’s partner, a volunteer firefighter, who swung into action straight away.

“They organised a kayak, and my dad came and rescued us from the balcony. The water was getting higher as we were on the phone to Dad’s girlfriend. Our house is on stilts and at that point I’d say the water was probably up to my neck.”

“The current next to us was rushing so fast, our barbecue was gone, the gas bottle was floating on the water.”

Jazmyn Welch (left) was rescued by a kayak from her flooded home in Kūaotunu on Wednesday morning. Photo / Peter de Graaf, RNZ

Her father, John Welch, took the women to safety one at a time, paddling through trees to the nearest dry land about 100m away.

“We have a massive backyard and it was completely underwater. Luckily we moved our cars to higher ground the night before.”

Welch and her partner took only their car keys, passports, phones and a change of clothes in dry bags.

They stacked the rest of their belongings on high shelves and on top of the beds, and blocked any gaps under the doors as best they could.

All they could take was their phones, car keys, passports and a change of clothes each, in dry bags provided by the fire brigade.

With a lot more rain expected overnight, she feared the house would go underwater.

She and Holly were now staying at her father’s home, but Civil Defence had opened up Kūatonu Hall for other residents, her neighbours included, who needed to evacuate.

“I’ve never experienced anything like that before. We moved here three days before Cyclone Gabrielle, so we’ve seen major flooding and major road damage before, but not that bad.

“This house is a little cabin on stilts, and it was 360 [degrees] surrounded by water. It was like we were sitting in the river. It was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen, especially at 5.30 in the morning. It was pitch black and there was just water rushing all around us.

“It was pretty, pretty scary, and now we’re sitting safe and dry at dad’s house and praying that water doesn’t go inside the house on Wednesday night. But I’m unsure.”

-RNZ