Sudley Farm

Under the cover of night, the river swells. All hopes of escape from Sudley Farm are swallowed whole.

⚠️ This episode follows a harrowing ordeal in Dartmoor and deals with loss of life. Listener discretion advised.

It’s 1988 and Cyclone Bola leaves its mark on the collective memory of Hawke’s Bay and NZ. Sally and David Prins had already been farming in Dartmoor for about 15 years and remember the construction of the stop bank that followed. Completed in 1992, it was designed to withstand a1-in-100-year event. But 30 years later, it’s no match for Cyclone Gabrielle. As the rain falls, the homes dotted around Sudley Farm are on a deadly collision course with the Tutaekuri River. This is the story of the desperate ordeal that follows.

In this episode, Kristin takes listeners into the heart of Dartmoor Valley, where 3 families recount their horrific experiences during Cyclone Gabrielle. We hear from Sally Prins, with her neighbours Lynn McKenna (also Sally and David’s ex-daughter-in-law) and Meg Becker. They recount their terrifying escape from rapidly rising flood-waters in the dark pre-dawn of Feb 14th 2023. As with so many others caught in the chaos that day, the only way was up. Listen to their story as they navigate the challenges of catastrophic flooding – with lives on the line and no outside help until after the worst had passed. Fearing the worst but clinging to threads of hope, most of the residents of Sudley Farm are eventually plucked from their roofs by helicopter.  

Their narrative also highlights the invaluable support from the local community in the absence of anything meaningful from the ‘authorities’. They revisit the importance of emergency preparedness and also offer some sound advice. It’s not only an incredible story of survival, but of courage and resilience as they endure what followed. They reflect on a lucky escape with gratitude and new perspectives.

If you enjoyed listening to SUDLEY FARM, please take a moment to rate and review the episode. This ensures more people will discover these stories from Cyclone Gabrielle.

UNDER THE WEATHER has been featured on RNZ and Stuff. Links below to find out more.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360795376/devastation-healing-cyclone-gabrielles-untold-stories

https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2019002009/tales-of-horror-and-heroism-in-cyclone-gabrielle-podcast

Chapters

00:00  Introduction

01:43  Meet Sally, Lynn and Meg.

02:52  The Calm before the storm

04:50  Waking to water.

06:10 Moving to higher ground 

09:45 A 111 call.

12:36 Naomi leads the way

14:00 The water keeps coming

16:55  An exit strategy

22:30 On the roof.

31:15 Rescue

33:10 Refuge and reunion

35:40 The outside world 

37:45 Disbelief

39:10 Lessons learned?

42:10 One foot in front of the other

49:05 Another reunion

51:00 Mary

52:18 Lost and found

54:00 Back on the farm…almost

55:25 Good advice

57:00 Laughter is the best medicine.

58:00 The best of friends

01:01:13  Conclusion and dedication ⚠️

Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/cyclonegabriellestories.nz

Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cyclonegabriellestories.nz/

Note Since recording this episode it has been brought to my attention that there was no pre-existing stopbank along this stretch of the Tutaekuri River. So the stop bank built in the early 1990s was 'from scratch', not an upgrade of an existing structure.

All transcripts for UNDER THE WEATHER are AI generated.