In one of the more dramatic tales from last week’s wild weather and heavy rain, a man and his dog had a narrow escape in the deceptively still floodwaters behind their Onetangi home. Luella Bright says a creek runs through their lower back section, going through a culvert on the far side of their neighbour’s property.
“On Wednesday [21 January], the creek rose quite quickly and within a couple of hours it was higher than it had ever flooded before.” Her partner, Andrew, went to check the culvert to see if he could safely clear any debris blocking it.
Their dog Pipi slipped under the fence and tried to catch up to him by swimming through the deep flood water. “The water looked as if it was barely moving so I didn’t think much of it,” Luella says. “Then I heard Andrew yelling. The next second, Pipi was being pulled backwards by the current, towards the culvert.”
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