More torrential rain Wednesday morning brought more flooding to Auckland residents, with many saying they have had enough and want the council to take accountability. Video / NZ Herald
An Auckland couple has called for the council to buy their property and demolish it after their flood-prone house ended up waterlogged for a second time in five days.
They said the council refuses to acknowledge the property’s risk as it deems it structurally sound, leaving the couple stuck ina property they can’t offload.
Photos taken at Bex Hurley’s home on Border Rd, Henderson show the extent of flood damage on Friday - when a nearby river overflowed.
“It was terrifying,” she told the Herald, before describing flood waters that reached the top storey of her two-storey property.
“I moved my car up the driveway and the water chased me into the property. It was horrible, nerves are definitely frayed.”
Photos taken at Bex Hurley’s home on Border Rd, Henderson show the extent of flood damage on Friday. Photo / Supplied
Everything in her garage was damaged and washed away by the waters, which she said were moving at such a pace, it felt as though her house was in the middle of a river.
A similar thing happened on Wednesday morning, when a second dump of rain flooded her property and reached neck-height levels in her front yard.
The wider issue, however, is the fact this flooding came as no surprise to the couple - who have endured eight major floods at their property over the past seven years.
Their property is one of five on their shared driveway. The one closest to the ranges is uninhabited due to being the worst-hit during floods, as it takes the full force of the current.
Their property is one of five on their shared driveway. The one closest to the ranges is uninhabited due to being the worst-hit during floods.
As the water makes its way further up the driveway, each property receives less and less water damage. Hurley’s home already takes a beating, but it’s also left with all the sludge that hits the hill at the back.
“So we get the massive clean-up job at the end, so my husband is out there at the moment hosing it down as the water recedes,” she said.
According to Hurley, the housing was built in the 1980s by a construction company that was declined consent by Auckland Council, due to the location’s flood risk.
The company took Auckland Council to court and the council didn’t contest, so the company went ahead and built anyway.
Because of the nature of flood risk, the house is built on poles - so it’s already elevated to avoid any initial floodwaters that reach the house.
“The problem is council comes around and sees the poles and says ‘oh yeah, it’s structurally sound’, but the river overflows and we get a massive surge of water that’s like a rushing river,” said Hurley.
A flood alarm was installed on a nearby hill to alert the residents to the flood risk. It didn’t go off on Wednesday morning.
An Auckland couple has called for the city council to buy their property and demolish it after their flood-prone house ended up waterlogged for a second time in five days.
“The houses just shouldn’t be here, they were built on poles to withstand flooding - but we weren’t told any of this when we bought this place,” she said.
“Nobody wants to buy these houses, you can’t rent it as you don’t want to put a tenant’s life at risk, the only option is for the council to buy this property back and demolish it.”
When approached by the Herald about Hurley’s dilemma, the council sympathised with residents for the “unsettling” events over the last week.
“Discussions about individual properties are held between the council and the property owner,” said Craig Mcilroy, general manager of Healthy Waters.
“As any property purchase would require the use of ratepayer funds. These are not decisions that are taken lightly and are assessed on a case-by-case basis.”
Mcilroy advised homeowners to discuss their individual circumstances with their insurance company in the first instance.
