‘Red zone’ is a term that came from the Christchurch earthquakes. But after an ocean of floodwater in Pākōwhai covered the roofs of two-storey homes, some residents think it might be needed in Hawke’s Bay. James Pocock reports.

Zhang bobbed in an apple crate in seven-metre-deep floodwaters for hours, sitting with his German Shepherd Huahua as the skies turned dark around them.

The roof of his high-ceilinged two-storey home on Sissons Rd in Pākōwhai was above water, but only just.

To survive the torrent, Zhang, who had previous nerve damage in his arm, kept his grip for hours on the gutters rimming the roof.

When he could finally signal a rescue helicopter with a torch on the evening of February 14, he asked it to first rescue neighbours who were trapped on an even lower roof.

Then the chopper came for him, and he faced the heartbreaking reality that he had to leave Huahua behind. The dog’s 45-kilogram frame hadn’t sunk the crate, but he was too heavy for the helicopter to risk.

Earlier that day, Zhang had kept an eye on the direction of the nearby Ngaruroro river stopbank and ocean, but he was taken by surprise when water came rushing in from the Tūtaekurī River in the opposite direction.

He was moving valuables up to the second floor when water burst through his front door.

Zhang rushed to his balcony as the water rose, where it took him several tries to grab one of the apple crates floating by before he and Huahua hopped into it as water filled his house.

Now he and his partner, who was away during the cyclone, are left picking up the pieces, unable to find Huahua and not knowing whether they will be covered if another disaster strikes.

“I definitely think the area should be red-zoned,” Zhang told Hawke’s Bay Today on Wednesday.

Mud in the second storey of the Zhangs' Pākōwhai home. Photo / Paul Taylor

He said that unless insurance companies and the Government could guarantee coverage for another similar disaster, he and others would not feel comfortable rebuilding in Pākōwhai.

“I love my life here, but how can I feel safe rebuilding?”

The Zhangs said the community support had helped them stay positive amid the devastation.

“I am so happy with the New Zealand spirit, and a big thanks to the helpers, helicopter rescue teams and insurance,” Zhang said.

He said there were many questions in his mind about the day, but in particular, why there were no warnings in place for him and others near him who were flooded on Tuesday afternoon, when rescues had already been carried out in Waiohiki that morning.

Keith and Dineke Gore were rescued from the roof of their neighbours' two-storey home in Pākōwhai. Dineke believes the area should be red-zoned. Photo / Paul Taylor

Pākōwhai residents Dineke and Keith Gore stayed at their neighbour’s two-storey home on Gilligan Rd during the flooding.

“We thought, ‘We’ll be ‘right’, but when you sit up there and see bins floating past, and you see the caravan just go up and down the road, then you begin to think, ‘We’re in trouble here’,” Dineke said.

She said there were only two tiles on the roof of their neighbours’ home left above the water when the seven of them were rescued by helicopter at 4.30pm.

“I really hope they red-zone the whole area, because this is going to happen again,” she said on Wednesday.

“I can’t imagine there would be many people wanting to come back here after this.”

Minister for Cyclone Recovery Grant Robertson said in a statement it was too early to be discussing the concept of red zones in cyclone-affected areas.

But he said they learned from the Christchurch earthquake that they can’t let the process drag out.

“We need to closely with local government, but also have the insurers and banks at the table, and this is the work that Sir Brian Roche is leading.

“My commitment is that we will do this as quickly as we can, but in a way that takes communities with us.”

He said not all homeowners are going to feel the same way in any given area, and the Government would have to carefully work through that.

“The concept of managed retreat is more of a long-term policy, and is about a conversation to help people understand that the places that they might want to live in might not be tenable or safe in the long-term,” Robertson said.

“The most important word here is ‘managed’. By that, I mean that we do this as a thoughtful process, rather than people having their homes wiped out.”