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Piers Fuller/Stuff
Jason McLean and Kirsty Skidmore outside her parents’ house on Joll Rd, which has been devastated by flooding.
When the Mangarau Stream suddenly became a raging torrent flooding a group of houses in Havelock North, residents didn’t know what had hit them.
It wasn’t until Tuesday morning that people could see the extent of damage to their Joll Rd properties, with deep layers of mud from Cyclone Grabrielle destroying nearly everything within houses.
Cut to Friday morning, and the 200m stretch of Hawke’s Bay road was a hive of activity with teams of people busy working and piles of mud and ruined household items piled high on the street front.
Kirsty Skidmore was working at her parents’ house and couldn’t be more grateful for the help she has had to clean some of the property up.
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“The help from the community has been unbelievable, and so needed, and so kind.
“Friends and family and locals and people we don’t even know have just turned up. Bringing their shovels, bringing their gumboots and it’s been incredible.”
Piers Fuller/Stuff
Kristine and Dan L’Estrange were grateful for local contractor Akra Civil pitching in with its digger to clear some mud out.
A huge pile of muddy carpet, furniture, rubbish and assorted debris was piled up on the footpath outside the house. Skidmore’s parents, both in their 80s, were still in shock over what had happened to their house.
Kristine and Dan L’Estrange rent a property down the road and were blown away when a contractor just turned up with a digger to clear the mud.
Everything on the lower level of the property was damaged, including a classic car in the garage.
Piers Fuller/Stuff
Kerry Lithgoe was one of many people from neighbouring areas who came down to help people clear out their flooded properties.
“They’re all covered in mud. I’ve recovered as much as I can, but there’s still about a foot of mud in there, I reckon,” Dan L’Estrange said.
Local earthmoving company Akra Civil dropped off a digger and operator to work on properties that needed it.
Large trucks were there on Friday morning hauling out loads of mud and debris from properties near the stream.
CHRIS SKELTON
Chris Barber hugs his brother Philip after the pair were reunited on the thick silt and mud that destroyed Chris’s home when floodwaters swept through Esk Valley near Napier.
Kristine L’Estrange said the family had only lived there for nine weeks and they were heartened by how strong the community spirit was in the area.
“It’s just amazing how everyone’s help us.”
Yen Son was one of those random people who just turned up this week to help out.
“It looked pretty bad. Everything was just muddy so I thought I would give them a hand.”
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