Helping Nan after the flood
Helping Nan rebuild from the flood
Berhampore, Wellington
On Monday 20 April my Nan and Aunty’s beautiful 1900s home was destroyed in early morning flooding in Wellington city.
Woken by the dog about 4am, my Aunty (Zena) quickly realised something was not right when she stood up into water. With levels quickly rising all around them and no way to safely get out, she managed to wake our 87 year old Nan (her Mum), get her into a high cupboard, and call for help.
A long and scary 30 minutes later, my Dad arrived with emergency services and managed to bash and wade their way in through the house to reach them. Despite water levels reaching 2 meters high at one point, they all managed to get to safety with not much more than the clothes on their back.
While we’re all feeling very lucky they got out, they’ve now got a long road ahead of them to rebuild everything they’ve lost. While insurance will cover some of this, it won’t cover everything and will take some time to come through.
Hannah Richardson (née Naftel)'s involvement (page creator)
My Aunty and Nana
Use of funds
Helping to cover essential and immediate costs for everything they lost like furniture, car, clothing, electronics, clothing, personal belongings.
Latest update
Clean up begins 25 April 2026
We’ve been absolutely blown away with the support for Nana and Zena, thank you so much for all of the kind messages and donations.
Monday and Tuesday were a big few days working through the damage left by the flood. Almost everything- except a few old possessions in very high cupboards- got wet, muddy or damaged. We filled two skips full of their belongings that couldn’t be saved- furniture, clothing, kitchenware, books and 60+ years of memories. The carpet had to be ripped up and removed as it was so water logged and covered in silt.
We were so thankful to have the help of family, friends and members of the local Cook Island Society during clean up. Focus now goes onto cleaning and drying out the things we did manage to salvage as well as working through insurance claims.
Nan and Zena won’t be going home anytime soon and will keep staying with my parents in the medium-term. Your donations will help them set up their new normal and work through longer-term plans.
Latest donations
Thank you Leo!
Thanks so much for your support
Every little bit helps, thank you Joanne 💓
Heart you Bay x
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