Abbotsford man no stranger to disaster

Press, 17 August 1979, Page 10

Abbotsford man no stranger to disaster

By j

ALLAN DUNN

In the aftermath of the Abbortsford disaster, 175 families are taking stock of their position. All were evacuated from their homes on the night of the slip, August 8, and now live in temporary accommodation all over Dunedin. Almost 400 people are affected, and for one of them, having no place to call home is all to familiar. Mr Micheal Zych was a solicitor in his native Poland when he was called up for an Army exercise almost 40 years ago. He left his home in south-east Poland and has never seen it again. About a week after his call-up, the German Army invaded Poland. “I had a motor-cycle, friends, possessions, and all the things you call home, and I have not seen them since. Just a set of clothes was all I took,” Mr Zych said.

During the war he saw service thsoughout Europe and in Africa, and was stationed in France when it fell to the Germans. He was evacuated to England and from there went to Scotland, where he met and married a local girl. They moved to New - Zealand in 1948 and built a house at Abbortsford. Mr Zych’s wife, Jean, said that her husband could not return to Poland because he was unwilling to work under the communist regime that was established after the war. “He can’t go back there now. He is a real New Zealander, and this is his home,” she said. The Zychs almost beat the landslide. They had sold their house to a young couple and the deposit had been paid, but when the hillside started shifting the deal fell through. “We almost made it out,” Mrs Zych said, “but the people who bought the house had .a young family, and we couldn’t let them take the place over when it was falling apart.” The house now sits about 10m from the sheer cliff that opened up after the landslip. It is intact, but marked for the wrecker’s hammer. Engineers at the site are demolishing houses which are on unsafe ground, and it is only a matter of time before the Zych home comes down. The Zychs hope that payments from the Earthquake and War Damage Commission and grants from the public appeal for slip victims will enable them to move into an ownership flat, something they were planning before the disaster. Mr Zych is nearly 70, suffers from heart trouble, and his wife said the shock of the disaster was only starting to take effect. “We were getting ready for bed when the lights went out, and a man from Civil Defence knocked on the door to tell us the power lines were down outside,” she said. “About five minutes later a policeman banged at the door, yelling ‘get out.’ We left with two

sniall suitcases ot possessions. We didn’t want to leave the Abbotsford area, but after this 1 don’t want to live in it."

The Zychs are both elderly, but feel it is easier for them to accept the upheaval than many of the young families on the hill. However, Mrs Zych said that in spite of that, the night of the slip was terrifying. “It was so unexpected and frightening,” she said. “I drove ambulances in London during the war, which was bad, but at least the bombing was constant. Here it was safe one minute, then suddenly the hillside moved.” Mr Zych is philosophical about his latest forced move. “I have lived in many places and had to move on,” he said. “Sometimes you find a place you like but you have to shift again. I think that for us it will be easier than for younger couples, but after all this is over they will be better prepared to face such an occurence.” After a meeting with their solicitor to see what compensation they will be offered for their house, the Zychs will go househunting again on a nice flat piece of land.