Miracle baby born after mum had to climb on roof in Lismore flood drama

Meet Harlem, the miracle bub whose family had to climb on their roof just days before he was born to escape the Lismore flood swallowing their home. Read their extraordinary tale of determination, bravery and luck.

Jahnaya Mumford’s baby son Harlem is blissfully unaware of what a tiny miracle he is. That they both survived at all is extraordinary. Ms Mumford was the “pregnant mum on a roof” who needed rescuing at the height of the first Lismore flood on the morning of February 28.

The stress of the ordeal put Harlem’s life in danger, so he was induced early, and he arrived safely.

But it was already a stressful pregnancy — Ms Mumford had a stillborn daughter in October 2020. Her plans for a smooth entry into the world for Harlem was swamped by the flood.

“He is absolutely a miracle,” the 32-year-old said. “We’d already lost a baby and here I was, two weeks before I was due, basically in my head I didn’t think we’d make it out, I thought we were going to die.

“I was thinking ‘we’ll lose another baby plus our lives and our other children's’.”

Jahnaya Mumford, Cliff Cleland and their baby boy Harlem. Picture: Brendan Beirne

Her dramatic story started on the evening of Sunday, February 27, as the rain ­started hammering down in Lismore.

“After seeing the news we were in for another 2017-level flood, we moved everything from under my house up high,” Ms Mumford said.

“My house has the 2017 flood marked so we made sure to lift above that line.”

With two dogs, a cat, and two children, along with her mum and partner, Cliff Cleland, they thought they would be safe on the second floor.

The nursery was decked out with baby clothes, just waiting for the arrival of a son within the fortnight.

“I must have fallen asleep and woke at 2.55am and looked out my back deck and the water was rushing and half way up my stairs,” Ms Mumford said.

Jahnaya Mumford and her new baby Harlem with partner Cliff Clelland and her kids Kayden and Lillie-Lee and their pets, who were all rescued from their roof. Picture: Brendan Beirne

“I ran inside, woke my partner and mum, who was staying with us at the time, and next thing we know we have a shipping container smashing through the backyards taking out the fences then hitting our neighbour’s back deck.

“I put my two staffys inside and woke my 13-year-old daughter and eight-year-old son up and put them into the kitchen along with our cat.

“We had kayaks on the back deck and my partner brought them inside and we were in ankle-deep water by then and we put both the dogs in the kayaks and tied them together. We had a washing basket with the cat in it.

“I had a stillbirth in 2020 so I had her ashes inside a special teddy, that was the first thing I grabbed and wrapped them up in plastic bags and tied them to me with my handbag.”

As the water rose, they decided to go into the ceiling manhole with the two kids, the dogs and the cat.

Harlem’s nursery was destroyed in the flood.

“It took me a while to get up there because I couldn’t fit with my belly, but my partner got me in,” Ms Mumford said.

“My partner then tried to kick the roof open but couldn’t.

“We then had family calling to say get out of the roof cavity as we could get stuck, so we got out.”

By now the water was shoulder deep inside the second storey.

“My daughter fell out of the manhole and went under so was drenched.

“We were panicking by then, we had to get on the roof but the awnings were rounded, so to get on the roof, we had to go into the water and up and over onto the roof. My partner was trying and he fell in and swam back,” she said.

“Our 80-year-old neighbour was screaming at the window, screaming for help. My son covered himself with the towels and started praying.

“My mum wanted to tie sheets to her and go and rescue the neighbour, but the water was rushing so fast and I said if she did that we would lose her, I wouldn’t let her go.

“We told (the neighbour) to smash a window, she couldn’t get out because doors wouldn’t open due to the water pressure.

“My partner got the two kids up. My partner had to go under the water to get me onto his shoulders.

“I had an eight-year-old on the roof who couldn’t swim and not being up there, and the current was so fast, if one of the kids fell in the water … I had to get on the roof
right now.

“I still had the garbage bag with the teddy and the ashes and my handbag.”

Jahnaya Mumford’s house (with the blue roof, third on the right) was completely engulfed by water.

Ms Mumford and her mum made 35 calls to the SES and Triple 0 as they huddled in the dark on the roof until daylight.

“The only response was ‘get yourself on the roof’,” they said.

She posted on Facebook and, like so many, it was a civilian who rescued the family.

“Helicopters were going over and we were flashing torches and no one was coming, then a boat came and they put all of us in the boat and my neighbour as well,” she said.

“After what felt like forever, having the thought that we aren’t going to make it in the back of our heads but also trying to stay calm for the kids, we saw a boat.

“Our neighbours screamed out to them to come get us first, our miracle couple who came from Broadwater in their own boat to rescue people (who then lost everything themselves the next day) put us all in the boat along with our elderly neighbour.”

Harlem was induced early because the stress of the floods put him in danger.

The overloaded boat crashed into submerged trees and battled the current. But they made it to a pub, where the upstairs accommodation was still above the waterline. The cat panicked and took off, but everyone else was safe.

Two days later Ms Mumford was able to get to the hospital to check on her unborn baby. An ultrasound revealed the stress had had a serious impact.

“I went up and they told me the placenta was not working and the baby had stopped growing and I’d lost a lot of fluid and it was safe to have the baby now, so I was induced and I had him on Sunday the 6th of March,” she said.

While in hospital Ms Mumford discovered that receding water had revealed the damage to her home. The nursery was completely destroyed, along with everything else.

“I got home to my house with nothing in it, I basically lost everything in there, no walls, nothing,” she said.

The family did secure a house in nearby Goonellabah, complements of a Sydneysider who had bought the home but was yet to move up.

“All I’ve been doing since having a baby is fighting my insurance company. They’ve said no at this stage,” Ms Mumford said.

“My house is a shell, it had nothing, I did not have flood insurance but I had building and contents, and now I am fighting my insurance company at the moment, which is stressful.”

If that wasn’t enough, her partner Cliff acquired a staph infection while cleaning up the mud, and required five days in hospital on antibiotics.

And then, another storm hit on Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning.

“The thunder woke me up and I started replaying those memories over and over again,” Ms Mumford said.

“I had a few panic attacks and started having chest pain and couldn’t sleep. I was so stressed, it felt like replaying the whole thing over again.

“I don’t know if the house is OK, I can’t get over there, it’s blocked and you can’t get through.”

The house was ready for repairs funded by friends and family.

“It had been completely cleaned out and sprayed for mould and we were having a builder come this week to put in some walls, because my brother did a GoFundMe and raised $25,000, so we had enough to build in one or two walls to live in.

“I’ve had a few breakdowns,” she admits.

Now the family is faced with paying rent, on top of the mortgage, but the only assistance she has been able to get is the initial $2000. Red tape is blocking any other access.

The bright side is that baby Harlem is in glowing good health and he’s a pretty good baby, seemingly sensing mum needs a bit of a break.

“He is our miracle, we kept him a secret from most while I was pregnant in case we lost him too, but he is really good now.”

And Jinx the cat they thought had probably died, was finally found in the pub roof 12 days later.

“After looking for him we started to think he’d not made it, then when I got out of hospital we just stopped at the back of the pub and called and he was in the roof hiding and popped his head out meowing. He’s at home now.”

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Originally published as Miracle baby born after mum had to climb on roof in Lismore flood drama