Helping Nan after the flood

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.