A Southland couple were forced to cancel their plans to see Elton John in Dunedin last night, instead spending the evening fleeing their 100-year-old property as flood-waters met them at the door.
Kerry Neilson told 1 NEWS she and her husband had left to go to the Elton John concert at 1.00pm yesterday when there was a call from their neighbour to say his house was “under water” and they "should be coming home".
They arrived back to their home in Gore at about 5.30pm to find their road was cordoned off but were told they could “sneak up the floodbank” to fetch a change of clothes.
“By the time we did that the cops were at the top saying 'out now'. There was water coming in the house as we left,” Ms Neilson said.
Speaking from one of three evacuation centres in Gore, she said nothing like this had ever happened before to the 100-year-old property.
“We had to jump over three fences and a couple of gates to get out so it was just what we could grab,” she said.
The couple only had time to get one change of clothes and were forced to leave behind two cats as the evacuation was so sudden.
They spent the night at the Calvin Community Church and now plan to stay with other family members.
“We won’t be back to our house for quite a few days I don’t think,” she said.
Hundreds of people have been evacuated from homes and farms in the Gore, Mataura and Wyndham regions due to flooding.
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