Flood-hit Waikare Valley couple home at last

Shirley and Joe Reti with one of their cats, Mangu, at their flood-damaged home in Waikare Valley east of Kawakawa. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Two hundred and sixty-four days after floods trashed their property Joe and Shirley Reti are finally home.

Last July's record-breaking rain sent a wall of water down Waikare Valley, east of Kawakawa, inundating the couple's home, wrecking furniture and leaving their property buried under silt and debris.

Their insurance company put them up in a nearby bed and breakfast for what was initially expected to be a few weeks.

However, weeks dragged out into months as repairs were delayed by insurance hold-ups, a tradie shortage and access problems caused by the flood scouring out a ford across the river.

The Retis hoped to be home by Christmas but that came and went with little progress.

Then they pinned their hopes on February but by March even basic work such as pumping silt from their septic tank hadn't started.

That was until inquiries to the insurance company by the Northern Advocate and Solomon Group chief executive Lynette Donohoe, who, like the Retis, has ties to Waikare Marae.

Within days tradies were at work and a new date, at the end of May, was set to get the couple back into their home.

The repairs were completed almost six weeks ahead of schedule with the Retis moving last weekend.

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''I just feel overwhelmed. It's magical, and about bloody time,'' Shirley Reti said.

Her husband was similarly excited to be home and looking forward to waking up in their own bed for the first time since July.

There was still some work to be finished in the outbuildings and garage.

The Retis' grandchildren were also on their way from Auckland to stay with them for the first time since January 2020. Their mokopuna normally stayed at Waikare Valley every school holiday.

The couple's three cats and 13 chickens were also delighted they were coming home, she said.