More than 10,000 people have been displaced up and down the North Island in the wake of what's been dubbed the "storm of the century". Video / NZ Herald / Supplied
The Muriwai resident who lost everything after a slip crushed her home - where a volunteer firefighter is believed to have been killed- has described the moment the slope gave way.
“Crushed in my house. I’m alive. Everything gone.”
So said artist Jennifer Mason just moments after a firefighter pulledher from the mangled home that was left.
Emergency services decided to call off the search for their second missing colleague as the saturated land continued to move and the wind belted Auckland’s west coast.
Mason said she started screaming as the roof gave way, letting in sky and rain as she lay trapped in the rubble.
“My mouth was full of roof dust as I screamed. I realised I was under a slip.”
Muriwai resident, artist Jennifer Mason captured the destruction wrought by a landslip on her house moments after the deadly incident. Photo / Jennifer Mason
She said she awoke about 10.40pm to hear ”a deep rumbling, then in the dark, the roof fell in and I was covered in roof batons.
“Then another big crack and the floor gave way and I dropped into the concrete basement with two streams of water either side of me,” Mason said.
“The front of the house fell away and I could see a fireman with his arms open.”
Two hours later, another update: “Firefighter is missing in my house slip.”
An aerial photograps shows the extent of damage caused by the landslip at Muriwai. Photo / George Heard
Mason said she saw her destroyed home on the news yesterday morning.
“I can’t believe I survived that. It feels like a miracle.
“I’m so thankful for my life. It was such a close call.”
