The eel was a sign, the call was urgent: Get out of Edgecumbe
Inside the cordon: Cousins rescue Edgecumbe residents by jetboat.
With floodwaters only 10cm from the top of the stopbank and an eel on her driveway, Ashlee Sturme knew she had to get her five children out.
The Edgecumbe resident grabbed only her children's clothes and abandoned her home in a cul-de-sac two houses from the Rangitaikei River thirty minutes before the stopbank burst on Thursday, sending a deluge of water through the town.
As sun broke through the clouds at dawn on Friday, Sturme looked out over the flooded township, anxious of what will remain of the family of eight's home.
Ashlee Sturme is waiting anxiously on Friday to find out the extent of damage to her home off College Rd.
"I feel like people are really anxious to get in but I think they are accepting they probably won't get in.
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* Rescuer saves kids, dogs
* Farmer helps rescue effort in flooded Edgecumbe
"Reality is starting to set in - yesterday was panic and shock and today we realise we're in it for the long haul and it's not going to be pretty."
Ashlee Sturme escaped from her home in Edgecumbe just in time.
The road Sturme drove from her home on Tanekaha St to her parents' farm 4km out of town was now impassable.
It was dark when Sturme went to check the Rangitaiki River after a night of heavy rain on Thursday morning.
"We were like 'Holy f.... this is bad. My kid, who's three, said to me "Mummy I'm really scared."
The flood bank protecting Edgecumbe in the Bay of Plenty breached, flooding the township.
"We walked back down the street to the house and there was an eel in the driveway."
As she pondered whether or not to send her children to school Sturme's husband phoned telling her to get out.
From his workplace at Fonterra's Edgecumbe plant, Sturme's husband informed her there was about 10cm until the river breached on the residential side of town, she said.
Around 1600 Edgecumbe residents were evacuated yesterday after the Rangitaiki River burst its banks.
His words - "get out".
"We knew and we were gone."
This was the worst case scenario for the flood prone Edgecumbe, she said.
"This is Edgecumbe's worst nightmare because every time it has burst before it has burst on the other side, whereas for it to burst on this side is the worst."
The river's system was designed to breach on the other side of town where there were few houses, she said.
"It's like their worst fear, and it was so quick, so fast."
Sturme didn't even have time to grab a pair of shoes.
"I don't have any clothes, or any medications - my kids have got special needs."
She said the family were travelling to Tauranga on Friday to get food supplies.
"It's just a waiting game. My husband got back yesterday afternoon and said the water has filled the plains and has nowhere to go so is heading back towards the river."
"We just hope it's dry."
- Stuff
