Jet boater loses truck rescuing woman stranded in Bay of Plenty floodwaters

A veteran rescuer says he “became the rescuee” when floodwaters swallowed his truck during a mission to save a stranded woman.

Motu and Rangitaiki Jet Boat Tours owner and operator Mark Looney was on his way to transport an electrician around a solar panel farm when he saw a woman perched on top of her car, stranded by floodwaters.

The incident happened after 24 hours of heavy rain flooded parts of the Eastern Bay of Plenty, cutting off the two highway routes between Whakatāne and Ōpōtiki.

More than 70 people sheltered at Kutarere Marae, between the two Eastern Bay of Plenty towns, on Wednesday night.

As Looney rounded a corner on Waiotahi Valley Rd, a rural road off State Highway 2 near Ōpōtiki, he found the woman and her car, which was sitting “sideways” and blocking the road.

Mark Looney's truck and trailer got caught in the flood waters as he was trying to get his jetboat to a scene to help with another rescue.

The floodwater was “waist-deep at most” when he got there, but Looney said that was enough to stop a car.

The well-known Ōpōtiki local, with nearly 30 years in Search and Rescue, said he did rescues like that “all the time”.

He had already crossed the same road earlier in the day and believed his 2019 Mitsubishi Triton 4WD truck could handle it.

Looney tried to drive around the woman’s car.

Once in the water, he was “committed”, as his trailer meant he couldn’t turn around or stop.

Approaching the woman’s vehicle, he slowed down, but the water made it impossible to see the road’s edge and the current dragged his truck towards a deep roadside drain.

Looney climbed out of his truck and jumped into the jet boat hitched to the back.

He picked up the “grateful” woman in the boat, who had been waiting on top of her car for about an hour for the fire brigade to rescue her.

The fire and emergency crew was at the other side of the submerged road, about 100m away, around a corner.

Looney helped the woman collect her belongings and returned her to her waiting family.

Flooding in the Eastern Bay of Plenty. Photo / Steven Woods

As for his truck, Looney said it was “goosed” — front end submerged, rear end sticking up in the air.

“Oh bugger,” he said.

Farmers and friends later helped free Looney’s truck using chains and a tractor.

Looney’s truck was not the only victim of the floodwaters. Several other vehicles were completely submerged, and roads and properties were also impacted.

Steven Woods, who owns Motu Helicopters and operates under a licence with Heli-Hire Limited, described the region’s flooding as among the “worst amount of water” he had seen in 25 years of flying.

Woods said Looney was always there for the community with his jet boat “when s**t hits the fan”. Woods had offered Looney a vehicle to use while his truck was out of action.

Woods did up to 12 helicopter flights between Ōpōtiki and Whakatāne on Wednesday, transporting stranded workers home.

Annabel Reid is a multimedia journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, based in Rotorua. Originally from Hawke’s Bay, she has a Bachelor of Communications from the University of Canterbury.