Auckland family says floods may force them out: ‘We thought it would never happen in our lifetime’

A boat and car partially submerged in floodwaters at Luisa Hansell's Blockhouse Bay home during Auckland's wild weather at Easter. Photo / RNZ

By Latonya Lole of RNZ

• An Auckland mum is considering selling her Blockhouse Bay home due to repeated flooding.
• Luisa Hansell’s family home, owned since the 1970s, has flooded twice in recent years.
• Hansell advises home buyers to avoid flood zones, citing difficulties in selling her property.

An Auckland mum is considering selling her Blockhouse Bay home, which has been in her family for five decades, because of ongoing flooding caused by severe weather events.

The Easter wild weather three weeks ago that caused flooding and power outages has been compared to the Auckland Anniversary floods in 2023.

Luisa Hansell said she and her family unfortunately experienced both storms and it had prompted her to consider leaving the house, something she had never thought about before.

“We built to stay here, and for the kids and their kids to stay on here,” she said.

But when the flooding struck on Good Friday, Hansell said she felt anxious to see it happen all over again.

She said she knew the garage would be flooded first and that her husband Stanley Hansell would have expensive equipment that he would have just left on the garage floor.

It was around midnight when Hansell and her youngest daughter Kaylani saw water rising.

“We knew it was going to seep into the garage soon. So I woke up Stan and we quickly went into the garage.

“We tried to put as many things as possible on the shelves and bring a lot of stuff that, you know, his equipment like the scanners and then just came into the rumpus room.”

After the flooding – the second in as many years – Hansell talked to her family about selling the home that had hosted many family gatherings, including funerals, birthdays and graduations.

“It’s our family home and Mum and Dad bought it [in the] early 1970s and so we have had it since then.

“Prior to the floods, moving was never an option. No, this was the house for generations.”

The thought of moving weighed heavy not only on Hansell, but her daughter Kaylani as well.

Kaylani had a deep emotional connection to the house because of the close bond she created with her elders, Hansell said.

“It’s been hard for the little one to let go. She goes, ‘Mum, I don’t want to move’.

“Just any thought of that word selling and you’d see her hibernate.”

Hansell said the day after the flooding, her husband asked her: “Is this what we want to keep doing?”

However, living next to the Whau River makes selling an arduous task, she said.

“We have talked about moving, but it’s harder now, because we are in the flood zone.

“Even though it is a beautiful home, we would not get as much because being in a flood zone would override everything.”

The Whau River is an estuary on the southwestern Waitematā Harbour.

Hansell encouraged home buyers to avoid buying in flood zones.

“Even if it is one in 100, just avoid it because it can happen.

“We thought it would never happen in our lifetime, but it’s happened twice now.”

– RNZ