DUNEDIN FLOODING!
The recent flooding in Dunedin has been used as a creative writing focus. The three pieces of writing below are examples of excellent writing. Enjoy!
My Flood Experience
"It's only a little bit of rain," I thought to myself.
" Just like every other day that it rains- it eventually stops and the sun comes out". Turns out I was wrong.....
All the kids who were left at school were sitting in the hall, not really watching the movie that was playing, we were all too unsettled. The rain was still coming down in bucketfuls and most of the school had gone home. We had been told St Clair was bad and also St Kilda, but I never thought it would be as bad as it was.
Emma had just left and the stress was getting to me. Where was Mum??? Had the flood gone terribly wrong?? That was when I saw a familiar face in the office and I felt the relief washing over me. It was Mum!
It was near the end of the day and we had just picked up my brothers. We were on the way to pick up Dad and the rain still had not ceased. I gazed out at the waterworld completely captivated. We had, had rain before in Auckland but never anything this bad.
We were nearly at Dad's work, right at the top of a steep hill and then suddenly our car stopped. "What's happening?" I cried with a hint of panic in my voice. "Why has the car stopped?" Mum reassured me everything was going to be fine, it was only a little bit of water in the engine. Just when I thought the car was about to stop, it started again and slowly made its way up to our destination- but this was only one stop of many.
An hour and a half later we finally arrived home. Tired, hungry and cranky but we were home and safe. The luxury of living up a hill! We had no flooding whatsoever but we could still hear the pounding rain on the roof. I have never experienced anything as exciting or traumatic in my life!!!
By Ruby Andrews
The Flood
"Come on Sean," I said impatiently.
"No!" he said. I took a deep breath. Ten seconds later I was piggybacking him towards Kings High. Mum followed us, holding the umbrella. I gazed ahead. It looked like a lake. This was the worst (and only) flood I'd ever been in. Water sloshed around my knees. Every step took me deeper. Every step, Sean seemed to get heavier. My shoes were filled with water. My shoelace had come undone in the drenching water. Then a car drove past.
Joyriders. A wave of rain water splashed my face. Cars drove by at a more leisurely pace, each one sending a small wave of water towards me. Then suddenly I was out. My shoes were heavy with water. But I was on dry (dry-ish) land. I shoved my brother off and stomped into the King’s office.
Matthew was ready for us and came out with no socks or shoes on. I wish I'd thought of that. We trudged back through the water. I stepped into the car. I was soaked. My school uniform clung to me. Then we drove home to more water!
Katie Wong
When news came out of the major floods it was from my friend’s mother. She had rushed into school to grab her son and take him home quickly. The day was just like any other Dunedin day - cold, misty and a bit of rain. By the end of lunchtime the rain was coming down hard enough for half of my class to leave due to the catastrophic conditions.
Everyone remaining at school huddled into the hall while all the other classrooms and school buildings were put into lockdown to protect them from the water. The number of kids left at school continued to drop as their parents rushed in to take them home. Of course my parents waited till 3.00 to pick me up but as my Dad drove me home I started to understand why...
Usually it takes 5 minutes to drive from school to my house but not today. The amount of detours needed to get home was amazing. Every street leading to my house was basically a small river so we went home expecting the worst. To our amazement the only sign of the flooding was the rain that was still peeing down and a small ankle deep puddle in our back yard.
The next day school was cancelled so we took this opportunity to help my Auntie whose back yard was drenched. We helped move out all the soaking furniture and tools from her shed and also sterilise the gross damp walls.
The flooding experience was one Dunedin won't forget soon and it has pointed out a lot of problems around the city. Hopefully everything will be back to the way it was before the flooding soon.
James Nicholson