A mother has described her traumatic experience being trapped on a roof of her creaking home with children desperate to be rescued from rising floodwaters.
Huia Ng膩tai climbed onto the roof of her Te Araroa home as flood waters overwhelmed their property.
She said at about 2am the water was at a level near the bridge at the edge of the property that 鈥渄idn鈥檛 feel right鈥 despite never having flooding issues before.
鈥淲e went home and woke our kids,鈥 Ng膩tai said, 鈥減lanning to put them into the truck as a precaution.
鈥淲ithin about five minutes of doing that, we saw our vehicles start floating down the driveway.
鈥淓verything happened so fast. We realised straightaway it was too late.鈥
Damage in Te Araroa after severe weather hit the North Island on Wednesday. Photo / Maree Brownlie
A wall of water then rushed toward the family, which the mother described as a 鈥渢sunami鈥 and forced them to climb onto the roof.
鈥淚t was absolutely terrifying. My children were screaming and crying, and we were all in shock.鈥
As they moved toward the highest point, the deck roof suddenly collapsed.
鈥淏y that point, the water had risen within seconds to the bottom of the roof, rushing down both sides of the house.
鈥淲e could feel the house moving and creaking underneath us.鈥
Ng膩tai described the noise as 鈥渦nreal鈥, with boulders crashing like thunder, trees breaking and nonstop heavy rain.
The family huddled together for warmth while emergency services called her, advising them to stay on the roof and keep calm.
鈥淚 was completely distressed and kept begging for a helicopter.
鈥淭here were emergency crews nearby, but they couldn鈥檛 reach us because it was too dangerous.
鈥淚 kept telling them we were basically sitting in a river and ground rescue wasn鈥檛 possible.鈥
The thought of helicopters being unable to reach the family made Ng膩tai believe they were about to die, but her sister stayed on the phone, providing updates and pushing for help.
She credited a p奴riri tree behind the house with helping to save them, as it helped to divert floodwater around it.
As daylight came, the floodwaters started to drop and revealed extensive damage including vehicles flipped upside down.
The family then climbed down from the roof and were greeted by emergency services at the end of the road, later being airlifted to the Te Araroa clinic.
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