Mangawhai locals Myfanway and David Gurr spent Friday night trying to stop their living room turning into a river.
Armed with towels and a broom, they battled to keep the floodwaters out of their Northland home.
“The water was higher outside the house. You couldn’t open any doors because it would just rush in,” Myfanway Gurr, 39, said.
Within half an hour, the Gurrs’ home was underwater.
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“It was like a river running down the hallway and everything was just floating. We just started trying to save things, pulling everything off the floor.
“There was nothing you could do. You just stood there in shock,” Gurr said.
Regions along the Auckland-Northland border were bombarded with “intense” downpours, causing flooding and slips on Friday.
MetService recorded about 300mm of rain over a seven-hour period at a rain radar near Mangawhai.
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Mangawhai locals Myfanway and David Gurr spent Friday night trying to stop their living room from turning into a river.
Cars were marooned on flooded roads, children were stranded at schools and road access between Auckland and Northland was completely cut off.
Gurr never expected flooding of this magnitude on her property.
“Mother Nature is just so powerful. The amount of water coming down the road was just insane and no amount of sandbags or sweeping would help.
“We’re 145m above sea level, I never thought we would have a problem with flooding,” she said.
The water rushed from the road, down their driveway and directly towards her home.
“If it wasn’t for that road, the house wouldn’t have flooded,” she said.
The pair is now sleeping in their living room with their kids as they clean up the rest of their home.
“We’re lucky in Mangawhai, we have an amazing community here. When everyone found out that shit was hitting the fan, they were here straight away.
“The next day, a couple of building friends turned up with commercial dehumidifiers. They ripped our carpet out for us.
LAWRENCE SMITH/Stuff
Gurr said her house is 145m above sea level and has never flooded before.
“We have so many people willing to help us,” she said.
Gurr and her family are drinking bottled water – for fear of effluent contamination – and are waiting to hear back from their insurance company.
“But we have no idea what it will cost. We have never been flooded before,” she said.
Despite it all, Gurr is incredibly optimistic but she admits the flash flood has taken its toll.
“I’m exhausted and drained and deflated. We’ve put a lot of effort into our property… now look at it. But we’re positive people and we know we can pull through this,” she said.
