The street in Devenish Place, Atawhai, was destroyed. Photo: Supplied

‘It was a maelstrom’: Cable Bay devasted after floods

KATE RUSSELL

Cable Bay has been devastated by last week’s flooding, with roads washed away and the campground left “trashed”. Long-time Cable Bay farming resident Barbara Stuart, who has lived in the area for more than 40 years, says it was twice as bad as the 2011 floods when the area was badly damaged and cut off for days. “It was much worse than 2011 - more than double,” she says. “I don’t even know how to start to describe it, the scale is huge. She says The Cable Bay walkway is part of her property. “There is damage from one end of the farm to the other. The campground is trashed.” She describes Friday night as a “nightmare” to live through. “It was a maelstrom. You didn’t know which way was up. “It was nighttime, it was dark, and we could hear rocks crashing down the creek. You just had to hang on to yourself and hope your house was still there in the morning.” She says it was a sleepless night for many residents. “I just wanted to fast-forward the clock, so we were on the other side, but we still had power and the toilet was working, so I’ve got the be thankful.” Barbara says they won’t know the full extent of the damage until they can access certain parts of the property. A big chunk of the road at Cable Bay has slipped into the estuary with other roads left drowning in mud. “We are just taking it one job at a time, and the first job is to have all our homes safe.” Barbara described the situation as “very fluid” on Monday. “There is still lots of water running off the hills still, lots of work to be done.” She says residents banded together for a working bee on Monday to fix the main water supply, which they were hoping to get back on by the end of the day. “Some people lost it when the slips came down. Everyone is working well together and there is good cooperation between people. “Many lovely people have offered us help, but it’s just too soon. But we’re okay, we’re just getting all our ducks in a row,” Barbara says. “We’ll get there.”

Cable Bay resident Barbara Stuart’s property, which she has lived on for more than 40 years, has been devastated by flooding. Photos: Barbara Stuart.

Appeal for daffodils following loss of stock

KATE RUSSELL

The Cancer Society’s annual fundraiser Daffodil Day is this Friday, but with daffodil stocks depleted by flooding and landslides, the society is crying out for donations. If you have daffodils in your garden, the Cancer Society would love to have them. Last week’s flooding damaged many of the daffodils in the region that were going to be used for the Cancer Society’s Daffodil Day street appeal and corporate flower orders this Friday. “Our fields in Riwaka are all under water,” says Cancer Society Nelson centre manager, Michelle Hunt. “Our Cable Bay daffodils are covered in a metre of mud, our Fleet Rd fields in Moutere have not flowered as have not had enough warm weather of sun where they are, so we are very limited this year on fresh daffodils.” The daffodil is the first flower of spring. Bringing light after cold, dark winter days and the hope of a new beginning. It has become a symbol for people experiencing the winter of cancer diagnosis and treatment, finding hope of a new life ahead. Every dollar raised for Daffodil Day goes towards local cancer care for patients and their whānau, education and awareness programmes, and life-saving cancer research. Michelle says they would love to have people pick and donate their daffodils if they have any, or they can organise volunteers to come and pick them up. If you have daffodils to donate, please phone the Cancer Society on (03) 539 1137 or email info@cancernelson. org.nz