Families flee wall of water from the hills

Road workers make a start on repairing both road and rail bridges near Matata after intense rainfall washed them away. Picture / Alan Gibson

A river of water swept through the Bay of Plenty town of Matata last night, forcing dozens of people to flee their homes.

Tania Raynes was in her Pakeha St home with her daughters Billie, 11, and Ashlee, 16.

"One minute we were okay. There was heavy rain and a little bit of flooding. Then this white-water river just came through from the hills."

It knocked over Dad and my husband and he was struggling to stay up."

The family had to flee their house and didn't have any chance to grab any possessions.

The only thing they managed to take was their precious bichon frise dog Oki, which they left with friends.

Last night they were among the 83 Matata residents taking shelter in the Whakatane War Memorial Hall.

They arrived in four buses and were supplied with mattresses and bedding .

Some had to leave in what they were wearing as floodwaters poured towards the town from nearby hills.

The local Warehouse store donated clothes. Food was brought in by volunteers.

Jenny Hataraka, 76, was concerned about the cats she had to leave behind. She said her granddaughter was very upset because she saw one of them being washed away.

She saw a car being swept past her house. "I stepped out the door and one came rushing by the footpath. It knocked my front fence down."

The water reached up to her thighs. She struggled through a next-door playground to higher ground, taking her three young grand-daughters with her.

Mrs Hataraka said her daughter went to the aid of two elderly neighbours who were later helped by Civil Defence.

The deputy mayor of Whakatane, Graham Hanlen, said he had heard of one house sliding down a hill while the occupants rode on the roof.

Lucy Mason, cuddling a seven-week-old baby, returned from nearby flooded Edgecumbe to find her home filled with thick muddy water.

"I was shocked. I was worried what had happened to my children," the 26-year-old mother of three said.

It turned out that her husband had been with the children and the family was taken to a nearby marae.

At Mt Maunganui's Baypark Stadium the army delivered the first Unimog full of evacuated Papamoa residents to safety just before 11pm last night.

Around 15 people, including frazzled parents with pyjama-clad toddlers and babies, were helped down out of the trucks and into the building by Army and police officers.

Hayley Hart and her family had recently moved to New Zealand from England. Their new home is 1km back from Papamoa beach.

"We were about 1cm from the water coming up and into the house. So we left."

Mrs Hart, her husband and three children brought six-month-old kitten Molly with them, with clothing, blankets, their passports and a bottle of wine. "We're pretty good as long as we're all safe. It's better just to be safe."

Nine-year-old Daniel Hart clutched his teddy bear. He initially said he was scared but cheered up after a cup of hot Milo from the Red Cross volunteers.

The Army had three trucks based at Papamoa and were working through the night to move anyone who wanted to leave.

Sergeant Kelvin Haumaha said evacuation was voluntary for most people although a few were encouraged to leave their homes: "No one has refused, but one lady had only moved into her home today so she was very reluctant to leave."