SURVIVING DISASTER: 'I THOUGHT WE WERE GOING TO DIE'

A heroic neighbour rescued this Esk Valley family from their flooded home

- Amy Prebble, Kelly Bertrand, Sophie Neville

In the early hours of 14 February, Hawke’s Bay photographer Danelle Kendrick, her husband Josh and their three young children clung to each other, fearing for their lives as water swamped their property.

It was 4 am, they’d already fled their flooded Esk Valley home to the garage, yet with water seeping in fast, the terrified parents knew their chance of escape was slim.

“I thought we were going to die,” says Danelle, 34, speaking to Woman’s Day a week on from the disaster. “We were trying to be calm for the kids, but Josh was vomiting and I was losing it too. I honestly didn’t know how we were going to get out.”

As the massive clean-up operation enters its second week, it’s through tears that Danelle – mum to Finn, seven, Reeve, five, and Dawson, two – tells of her family’s incredible survival.

While the home she and Josh, a construction manager, have spent the past five years renovating is destroyed, along with everything in it, they know they’re the fortunate ones – lucky to have made it out alive from one of the country’s worst affected areas.

“Compared to so many others, we are fortunate because we’re all still here,” she shares. “But it’s going to take years to rebuild and recover. The trauma is huge.”

KIDS’ TERROR