A New Zealander caught up in one of the worst-hit flood zones in Australia is asking people to pray for those still missing.

Kua mau tētahi nō Aotearoa i ētahi o ngā waipuke kino rawa atu o Ahitereiria, me te aha e īnoi ana ki ngā tāngata o Aotearoa kia tuku i ngā whakaaro ki te hunga e ngaro tonu nei.

Quintin Henry, who moved to Australia from Taranaki three years ago, is helping mates sift through the ruins left behind after floodwaters devastated his new home town of Lismore this week.

I hūnuku atu a Quintin Henry i Taranaki ki Ahitereiria e toru tau ki muri. Ko rātau ko ōna hoa e paraketu haere ana i te whakamōtītanga o te tāone o Lismore i tēnei wiki.

“Imagine the ocean turning up in your lounge one day and just sweeping everything away,” Quintin told Ohinga, Re:’s reo Māori series, on Wednesday. 

“Pohewatia te moana, ka kuhu atu te moana ki tō rūma noho ka kawea ai ngā mea katoa,” hei tā Quintin i te Wenerei ki te ohu o Ohinga, te hōtaka reo Māori a Re:.

“Everything is gone - all through the town centre, windows and shops completely gutted. Just everything destroyed. If this town does recover from it, it’s going to take a long time - a really long time.”

“Kāore he paku aha e toe mai ana, kua murua katoatia ngā matapihi me ngā toa o te tāone. Kua maroro katoatia ngā mea katoa. Ka aua te wā kia tika mai anō te tāone. 

Record breaking rain has caused widespread flooding along Australia’s east coast - and the worsening crisis is continuing with severe weather warnings and evacuation orders in place. 

Kua horapa katoa te ua i Te Tairāwhiti o Ahitereiria, kua waipuke katoa tia - ka mutu, kua kino kē atu i te kaha o ngā whakamataarahanga huarere, me te aha, kua whakaritea ētahi tikanga whakawātea takiwā.

Thousands of homes and businesses have been left damaged or destroyed. Ohinga has spoken to at least two other Kiwis affected by the floods in Lismore - including a woman who has been left with nothing but her New Zealand passport. 

Kua manomano kāinga, pakihi hoki kua riro i tēnei āwha nui. Kua kōrero a Ohinga ki ētahi tāngata nō Aotearoa mō ngā pānga o ngā waipuke nei ki te tāone o Lismore - ko tētahi wahine tētahi, me te mea hoki, kua kore āna rawa atu i tana Puka Uruwhenua o Aotearoa.

At least a dozen people have been killed during the floods - including several in Lismore.

Kua tekau mā rua hemihemi tāngata kua hinga i tēnei waipuketanga, ko ētahi nō Lismore tonu ētahi. 

The river rose to 14.4 metres on February 28 in Lismore - that’s the highest level ever recorded.

I piki te awa ki te 14.4 mita i te 28 o Pēpuere i Lismore, koirā te rīkoatahanga nui rawa atu kua kitea e tātau.

Quintin (Ngā Puhi, Ngāti Kahu) lives outside the flood zone and his home was spared. But his friends weren’t so lucky. 

Kei waho atu o te rohe waipuke a Quintin (Ngā Puhi, Ngāti Kahu) e noho ana, me te aha, kua tū tonu tōna whare. Engari anō ōna hoa, kīhai rātau i waimarie i tēnā.

“I’m at a friend’s place helping him get back into his house,” he said, during a break from helping his friend Trev sift through the muddied ruins of his home. “It’s pretty badly damaged. Your heart goes out to people - it’s difficult.”

“Kei te whare o tōku hoa ahau, e āwhina ana i a ia ki te whakatika i te whare”, hei tāna, i a ia e wāhi whakangā ana i ngā mahi āwhina i tōna hoa, i a Trev ki te whakapaipai i te mōtītanga o tōna whare. “Kua kino rawa atu te whare. E rere atu ana te aroha ki ngā tāngata o konei - e pōkaikaha ana.”

Like many others in Lismore, Trev, his wife and their three children had to be rescued from the roof of their two-storey home as the floodwaters swept through. 

Pēnei me ētahi atu i Lismore - i pikitia a Trev, tōna hoa wahine me ā rāua tamariki e toru i te tuanui o tō rātau whare nō te ua e waipuke ana i tō rātau whare.

“You’re talking eight or nine feet [two or three metres] of water in 40 minutes,” Quintin said. “It was just non-stop rain. Torrential downpour for days, for two or three days.”

“E waru ki te iwa wae (rua ki te toru mita) i te 40 mēneti,” e ai ki a Quintin. “He ua mutunga-kore. I pakaru mai te āwhā, tōna rua ki te toru rā te roa.”

Quintin says the enormity of the clean-up task ahead is overwhelming but he’ll continue to get stuck in to give his friends a hand to rebuild their lives. 

Hei tā Quintin, he nui rawa ngā mahi whakatikatika, me te aha, e rongo ana i te pōkaikaha. Heoi, ka whakaheke werawera tōnu rātau ko ōna hoa kia kaha mai anō rātau.

“There’s not a lot you can do … [just] do what you can to try and help piece people back together - because there’s a lot of broken people at the moment.”

“Ehara i te mea he nui ngā mahi e taea ana… ko te mea nui kia āwhina i te tangata - he tokomaha e raru ana i tēnei wā nei.”

Ohinga is created by Mahi Tahi Media, with funding from Te Māngai Pāho and the NZ on Air Public Interest Journalism Fund.

He mea hanga a Ohinga nā Mahi Tahi, he mea tautoko nā Te Mānga Pāho, nā te Puna Pūtea Public Interest Journalism a Irirangi Te Motu anō hoki. 

Stay tuned for a new episode every week.

Hoki mai anō kia kite ai i tētahi hōtaka hou.

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