Couple run for their lives to escape wall of mud that smashed into their house

Sunday, 18 July 2021

The bank above Suzy Kerridge and John Cocks’ house had given way, taking several trees with it.

Havelock resident Suzy Kerridge was cooking lunch in her kitchen on Saturday when she heard an unusual noise.

“It was a cracking noise and a really loud noise” she said.

Kerridge and her partner John Cocks went to the back of their three-bedroom house located on Old Coach Rd.

“The bank above us had given way and the big trees were just coming straight for us, so we just ran, we got out of the house.

Cocks in his living room, now covered in a thick layer of mud that came crashing through his house.

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The bank above Suzy Kerridge and John Cocks’ house had given way, taking several trees with it and smashing into the back of their home.

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“We are very lucky, if we hadn't had a retaining wall, about two or three metres high, it might have fell down there before it got to where we were.

“It came with such a force … the gods were smiling on us, I tell you,” Kerridge said.

The concrete wall took most of the mud.

Trees fell, taken away by the mud slide, smashed the windows and came through one of the bedroom and from the bathroom that the couple was renovating.

“It is just heartbreaking… But we are OK,” said Kerridge.

Suzy Kerridge and John Cocks moved from Timaru to Havelock eight months ago, ‘for the view’.

The couple jumped into their pick-up and drove to town.

“I went to the Captain's Daughter (local bar and bistro) and I said, 'Can I get a whiskey please, and I have got no money.”

“A stranger took us and gave us a bed for two nights,” said Kerridge.

The couple from Timaru bought the house a few years ago, ‘for the view and the bird’s song’.

A concrete wall at the back of the house took most of the mud, allowing time for the couple to run away.

The pair used to holiday in Havelock and decided to move to the mussel capital permanently eight months ago.

“We came back today to see the worst of it … and grab a few things, we needed clothes,” Kerridge said.

Kerridge and Cocks were looking for a hotel.

They haven't heard from their insurance company yet.

A state of emergency was declared in Marlborough on Saturday due to the wild weather.

Numerous roads have been closed due to flooding and debris including State Highway 1 between Blenheim and Picton, State Highway 6 between Renwick and Havelock, and State Highway 63 from Renwick to St Arnaud.

State Highway 6 between Renwick and Havelock was not expected to open until mid-afternoon at the earliest on Sunday.