Aerial video from Kio Kio Station Rd near Ōtorohanga shows widespread flooding and rising water surrounding rural properties.
A Waikato husband and wife team helped rescue 11 adults, seven children, four dogs and two cats from rising floodwaters in the middle of the night.
Ōtorohanga couple John and Julie Clark, who’ve lived in the area for three decades, were out battling the weather past midnight as theyrescued fellow locals with farm vehicles.
John said he and Julie both drove tractors to different houses on Kio Kio Station Rd in water about 1.5m deep at 1am to shuttle people to safety.
“They’re all either family or good friends,” Julie said. “We’re a nice little enclave, we subdivided the four houses across the road, and then there was also an elderly gentleman further down the road that we got out as well.”
John and Julie Clark, who run Clark Contracting on Kio Kio Station Rd, pulled several families from floodwaters in the early hours of Saturday using their tractors. Photo / Mike Scott
The pair said about 110mm of rain fell in about three hours yesterday afternoon, proving too much for local drainage systems and flooding houses “before the river even came up”.
They were first alerted to the rising danger by their son, who lives nearby and told them his house was about to be inundated.
“He had a tractor parked there,” Julie told the Herald, “so he got himself and his partner and baby and dog and cat out.
“We went out and got our direct next door neighbours out, which was a family of four, and then we went through and got the back two houses out, which was more adults, children and dogs.
“So we ended up with 11 adults, seven children, four dogs and two cats and at 5am the emergency services paddled up the road and we were evacuated.”
The couple returned to the area in their tractor today to find a logging truck had been placed across the road.
Torrential rain resulted in many of the houses on Kio Kio Station Rd being flooded. Photo / Mike Scott
“[It’s] to stop stickybeakers but as you can see you can’t actually get through that way at the moment – it’s still too deep.”
Their home was unscathed, but their workshop was flooded and will be part of a big clean-up operation.
“We’ll just take a few days to regroup, we’ve got 10 staff that’ll come in and help us,” Julie said.
John and Jude Clark used tractors, similar to those pictured, to rescue their neighbours. Photo / Mike Scott
“We’re not on our own so our crew will come in and band us together.
“And we’ve been inundated with offers of help and the same with the houses once we can get access to them with tractors and trailers.”
The New Zealand Transport Agency said State Highway 3 between Mangaorongo Rd and Ngahape Rd will open after 9pm today for essential travel only, but only light vehicles will be able to cross the Mangaorongo Stream Bridge near the intersection with Kio Kio Station Rd, north of Ōtorohanga.
It described today’s river levels as “extremely high” and urged the public to drive with extreme caution.
