Incredible Kayak Rescue Saves Women from Rising Floodwaters

A woman rescued by kayak from the deck of her Coromandel home on Wednesday morning says she has never seen flooding like it – not even during Cyclone Gabrielle. By Peter de Graaf of RNZ Jazmyn Welch said her home at Kūaotunu, north of Whitianga, was surrounded by neck-deep, fast-flowing water when help arrived – and it was still rising. The first she knew about it was when her partner, Holly, got up for work about 5.30am. "She came into the room, burst open the door, and said, 'You've got to get up now, because the whole entire outside of the house is water, like eye-level water'. It was so high, and it was getting higher and higher." Welch called her father's partner, a volunteer firefighter, who swung into action. Follow 1News' live updates here "They organised a kayak, and my dad came and rescued us from the balcony. The water was getting higher as we were on the phone to dad's girlfriend. Our house is on stilts and, at that point, I'd say the water was probably up to my neck." "The current next to us was rushing so fast, our barbecue was gone, the gas bottle was floating on the water." Her father, John Welch, took the women to safety one at a time, paddling through trees to the nearest dry land about 100 metres away. "We have a massive backyard and it was completely underwater. Luckily we moved our cars to higher ground the night before." Welch and her partner took only their car keys, passports, phones and a change of clothes in dry bags provided by the fire brigade. They stacked the rest of their belongings on high shelves and on top of the beds, and blocked any gaps under the doors as best they could. With a lot more rain expected overnight, she feared the house would go underwater. She and Holly were now staying at her father's home, but Civil Defence had opened up Kūatonu Hall for other residents, her neighbours included, who needed to evacuate. "I've never experienced anything like that before. We moved here three days before Cyclone Gabrielle, so we've seen major flooding and major road damage before, but not that bad. "This house is a little cabin on stilts, and it was 360 [degrees] surrounded by water. It was like we were sitting in the river. It was the craziest thing I've ever seen, especially at 5.30 in the morning. It was pitch black and there was just water rushing all around us. "It was pretty, pretty scary, and now we're sitting safe and dry at dad's house and praying that water doesn't go inside the house on Wednesday night. But I'm unsure."