Home is where the stench is

By ELIZABETH BINNING

There's nothing like home - unless foul-smelling floodwaters have swept through it.

Today, many Whakatane flood victims do not want to return home because they fear their children - or elderly relatives - will become sick.

Of the 2500 residents who are registered as evacuees, most are now staying with relatives, friends or in longer-term accommodation.

They have undergone the heart-breaking task of salvaging what's left of their sodden homes and are now waiting for repair work to start.

But, for a small number, probably 100 to 200, there is no long-term accommodation in sight yet.

They are families like Wiremu Herbert, 21, partner Waitangi Timoti and their two young sons, who have been at Te Hokowhitu Atu Marae in Whakatane since last Thursday.

Before that they were living at an emergency shelter, with hundreds of other people who were evacuated from their homes when 250mm of rain hit the Eastern Bay of Plenty in 48 hours.

The young couple's Hotene St home escaped internal damage but their backyard was swamped by knee-deep floodwater.

As that water receded the grass and external walls were left covered in a foul-smelling mud declared to be a potential health risk by officials.

"My two sons have already gotten sick - colds and flu - from being evacuated and being at the hall," said Mr Herbert. "That's why I'm here [at the marae], to keep my kids away until we get the property clean."

At the end of their sons' makeshift beds a large bag of clothing and toys sits neatly, so as not to get in the way of others. A total of 38 people share the room.

Mr Herbert often returns home. "I have been going back and forward and water-blasting the house.

"The mud is still there though ... you can't clean grass."

He worries that the children could become sick if they return home and play in the yard where sewage has spilled and where water stagnated for several days last week.

Maria Crapp and her 2-year-old daughter, Jamie, returned to their home last Thursday but fled to the marae the next day after Jamie became sick.

Ms Crapp said life at the marae had been good. The child enjoyed playing together and the support had been outstanding. More importantly there was a feeling of safety - something the evacuees do not have at their flood-damaged homes.