Wairarapa Red Cross helps in flood

ACTION: Lynne Drake, from Martinborough, was called on when flood waters hit Wanganui.

Earlier this month Lynne Drake, from Martinborough, was wading through floodwaters and offering whatever help she could to the people of Wanganui, many of whom had lost everything they owned.

A member of the Red Cross Disaster Welfare Support Team (DWST) for 13 years, Ms Drake was called to action when persistent rains drowned Wanganui over the weekend of June 21-22. The flooding, which was the worst on record for Wanganui, forced the evacuation of hundreds of homes and left dozens of people stranded. Ms Drake was one of five Wairarapa DWST members, the others being Tony Hunt, Fiona Flis, Deb Bailey, and Brian Vietch, all volunteers, deployed that weekend to assist the town.

"It was dark when we got there at midnight and it was pretty devastating. Once we managed to get out and about to assist people, it was an eye-opener."

The team relieved the Wanganui DWST and assisted Civil Defence, who assigned them various tasks, one of which was running the welfare centre, where they kept people informed about what was happening with road closures and cordons.

"People would walk in the doors, sit down and burst into tears. We're trained to deal with that but there's not a lot you can do, just be an ear and listen to them."

The Red Cross Volunteers assisted Wanganui residents back to their homes, where they had about an hour to assess its condition and find anything salvageable.

However, as floodwaters had run into the sewage system, contaminating the muddy waters, people were not allowed back into their houses permanently due to health risks.

"It was mud by the time we got there. Mud just went straight through the buildings. Some people had lost everything they had - things like photos and personal memories that they will never be able to recover. Just being there and seeing the devastation, it's a different story."

Ms Drake said many people requiring medication had not been at home when the floodwaters came through, so the DWST were tasked with picking up and delivering new medications to those people.

The team picked up people from the airport who had come in by helicopter from the rural areas that had flooded and organised accommodation for them.

Ms Drake said concerned people from all over the country were calling the welfare centre asking after friends and loved ones they hadn't yet heard from, so the DWST went out door knocking to locate them. "You couldn't get hold of them because they had no power and in rural areas there's no cellphone reception."

The Wairarapa DWST members spent five days in Wanganui assisting with recovery work. "When something like this happens you can't go and salvage anything like in an earthquake. In some cases the water rose to the top of people's windows, leaving a muddy aftermath where there was nothing salvageable in their homes."

Ms Drake works for the South Wairarapa District Council, who are "very supportive of volunteer services".

"You never know when we in the Wairarapa might need the help." She said the recovery for Wanganui would be a long one and the floodings had been traumatic for everyone, but especially for the elderly, many of whom had lost their life-long possessions. "It's certainly a life-changing event for certain people, everyone knows someone that was affected."

Ms Drake said many people wanting to help when disaster struck could not assist as they needed to be properly trained first. "We would love to train more volunteers who are interested in helping vulnerable people during a disaster."

-Donations for Wanganui flooding can be made online at www.redcross.org.nz/donate - with 100 per cent of the funds raised going directly to those worst affected.