51 Napier households on temporary accommodation service list after flooding

Heavy rainfall in Napier caused flooding and landslips which damaged many properties around the city and displaced residents. Photo / File

Fifty-one Napier families have registered with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's Temporary Accommodation Service looking for somewhere to stay after being displaced by flooding.

Principal engagement advisor TAS Julia Shanahan said the service was available to help people whose homes were damaged by the severe weather and flooding across the Napier region.

"Currently 51 households have registered for the service and we expect that further households will register for assistance in the coming weeks.

"The TAS team have been on the ground in Napier collecting registrations from displaced people who require temporary accommodation and are now working to establish what accommodation options are suitable, and will then connect them together."

She said the service differed from 'shelter' and 'emergency accommodation', which is provided for a short periods of up to two weeks by civil defence and emergency management agencies.

Temporary accommodation is used for a short to medium term, providing households with accommodation while repairs are being undertaken following a natural disaster.

"TAS support can last for weeks, months or even years as the local community recovers from an event and proved very successful when the service has previously been activated following events such as the Kaikōura earthquakes and the flooding in Edgecumbe."

Where possible, residents were placed in existing, undamaged homes but where there is a shortage of rental accommodation, additional housing supply is used

"We have a fleet of purpose-built portable cabins for emergency responses that are ready for deployment if necessary."

Shanahan encouraged anyone who has a current or expected need following the flooding in Napier to register their details with MBIE or call 0508 754 163.

She also encouraged tenants and landlords of rental tenants and landlords of rental properties to familiarise themselves with their tenancy rights and obligations following an event like this.