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A Dunedin family say they are feeling lucky after narrowly escaping a devastating landslide that tore through their property during Friday night’s extreme downpour. 

Fiona Cadogan and Chad Ralston live at the bottom of a gully below Manapouri Rd, in the coastal suburb of Ravensbourne, where a massive landslip took out their garage and multiple vehicles just after midnight. 

“As far as we know from the fire chief, the slip started [at Manapouri Rd], went down the hill, and then turned a corner. Luckily, because it turned a corner, we think it’s missed our house, which is really fortunate. We haven’t been back yet.” 

The damage caused by the Dunedin floods includes this massive slip that almost buried a house. Photo / George Heard 

The couple say they were woken in the middle of the night by the sound of rumbling. 

“It’s happened before when it was just a tree branch, so we thought that’s what it was again,” Cadogan said. 

“My son came in and said, ‘Did you hear that?’ I asked him which direction he heard it from, and he heard it from behind. So I thought, I better go and have a look. Something didn’t sound right. 

“I went outside and there was water gushing across the driveway, which was pretty unusual, and I went across towards the garage, and we could see there were tree branches and a wall of mud pushed right up against the side of the garage, and it was just meters away from the dog kennels. 

“I instantly got the dogs out and threw them into the truck.” 

Fiona Cadogan and Chad Ralston were lucky to escape with their lives after a landslide tore through their Ravensbourne property on Friday night. Photo / George Heard 

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He said the family watched the scene for about 10 seconds, until the mud started to move the garage forward. 

“Three vehicles were parked up in front of it, my car that I just bought last November,” said Cadogan. 

“So we got the dogs out of the truck and brought them inside. And then we just watched the mud eat our garage and our vehicles.” 

Within minutes, they gathered what they could and fled. 

A council worker's truck was caught in the slip but neighbours believe the worker was outside the vehicle, inspecting the area, at the time. Photo / George Heard 

“I got my laptop with my Master’s work on it - 10,000 words sitting on that. My daughter grabbed the cat, and my 14-year-old son had the presence of mind to pack a bag with clean underwear and a soccer ball,” said Cadogan. 

“It was about half past midnight by the time we got everything out, and we left in about 15 minutes.” 

The family sought refuge at Cadogan’s parents house, and called the council to report the slip. 

Ralston said he had been in contact with a neighbour earlier that night about potential water pipe issues in the area. 

A closer view of the damage caused by the huge slip and how near it came to the house. Photo / George Heard 

“My neighbour and I were talking about it, and sure enough, two hours later, the slip came down,” he said. 

A white ute was caught also caught in the slip, neighbours believe the vehicle was council-owned and a worker was outside the vehicle inspecting the area when the slip occurred. 

Despite the devastation, the couple remain grateful. 

A man walking through floodwaters in South Dunedin. Photo / George Heard 

The family have also spotted some of their sheep on the hillside with their lambs, giving them a small sense of relief. 

The next steps for the family are uncertain. 

“We don’t know what the house is like. We don’t know if our cats are still alive. We don’t know if we can ever return. It depends if they deem the land safe or not,” Cadogan said. 

“We’re lucky. Our property has been destroyed, but we got out and we got the dogs and we’re well insured.” 

The family are now in limbo as they wait to hear from insurance and geotechnical engineers about the fate of their home. 

“Watching a force of nature just tear through things ... it’s surreal,” Ralston said. 

A state of emergency was declared in Dunedin on Friday as heavy rain lashed the region overnight, causing more than 80 residents in the city to evacuate, and widespread flooding throughout Otago and Southland. 

Ben Tomsett is a multimedia journalist for the New Zealand Herald, based in Dunedin.