Wairoa floods: Recovery ongoing, residents face housing challenges

By Alexa Cook of RNZ

It is a cold winter day in Wairoa, the sun is peeking through the clouds and although the mud and debris has long since been cleaned up, many homes remain empty.

Their inhabitants are camping in temporary accommodation in driveways, paddocks and back yards.

Eighty-three homes are still yellow-stickered, many of those homeowners simply could not afford insurance, and so now do not have the money to repair their flooded houses.

But for pensioner Kevin Buchanan, he was not insured when the Wairoa flood hit because he was in the final stages of finishing his house and was yet to get council consent.

Kevin Buchanan has been living with his family in a portacom since the flood. Photo / Nick Monro

“It’s been absolutely awful. We were just living here, minding our own business, not annoying anybody and all of a sudden our life was turned upside down and it put a huge financial strain on us.”

He is living in a portacom in the paddock with his family. It costs $225 a week and so what little is left over from his pension has been carefully scrimped and saved to repair the house bit by bit.

The walls have been re-insulated and re-lined, but he ground to a halt because the bathroom and kitchen were going to cost about $14,000 to fix.

“We’re trying to get on with our lives and yeah struggling because we couldn’t see a way clear to get this done,” he said.

Wairoa. Photo / Paul Taylor

Kevin becomes emotional as he describes how the mayor Craig Little saw Kevin’s situation and gifted him $10,000 from the mayoral relief fund.

“So we’ve ordered the new kitchen and stuff for the bathroom, and hopefully in two to three months we’ll be back in here again,” he says with a relieved smile.

But he is also angry at Hawke’s Bay Regional Council (HBRC) – he says his property and those around it never flooded before and would have been fine last year if the council acted sooner and dug a channel through the river bar.

The flooding at Kevin Buchanan's home one year ago. Photo / Kevin Buchanan, Supplied

He said he was frustrated at the lack of support from HBRC.

“They could have come to our assistance after flooding us and ruining our lives because we’ve lost over a year of our lives. We were really happy over there,” said Kevin.

HBRC told RNZ an independent review made multiple recommendations, all of which have been or are being acted on. It also said assistance has been offered.

“The Council has given financial support. First it was $100,000 to the Wairoa Mayoral Fund to support flood relief, then $40,000 for rates support and $60,000 for under-floor insulation reinstatement for impacted houses,” the council said in a statement.

‘We’re still struggling’

Wairoa’s flood recovery is far from over, mayor Craig Little says.

“We’re still struggling. There’s nothing to celebrate, that’s for sure.

“I’ve been to quite a few people recently and... even the ones that were fully insured are still out of pocket 20k... you know it’s not their fault and it’s so unfair on them,” he said.

The mayoral relief fund still has money in it, and he is urging people who need help to ask for it.

“I just want people to know that I’m not going to give up, I’m going to keep fighting.”

He has written to HBRC asking for more support for Wairoa, as he worries they are complacent about the flood recovery.

“We’ve got to be careful – we can’t just relax and think ‘oh she’s all good we don’t worry anymore’.

“The Wairoa people haven’t forgotten what went on.”

HBRC chairperson Hinewai Ormsby said she responded to Little at the time and welcomed the opportunity for regional councillors to visit Wairoa.

“HBRC feels for whanau still living with the aftermath of the flooding and we are committed to doing everything in our power to reduce the risk of future flooding.

“We would welcome another opportunity to visit Wairoa and hear from residents and are waiting to hear from the mayor.”

‘It’s too hard’

For 84-year-old flood victim Irelle Lowe, it had been a challenging 12 months that began with her being rescued by the local vet and her horse Amber.

“She said ‘we can’t leave you here, we’ll put you on the horse’.

Irelle Lowe being rescued on the back of the local vet's horse. Photo / Supplied

“We walked out carefully because the horses couldn’t see where they were going. The water was up to our chest,” she said.

Once the floodwaters receded and Irelle went home, there was a yellow sticker on the door signalling extensive flood damage.

She has been living in a caravan on her driveway until last month as she did not want to leave because her property kept being targeted by thieves.

Since the flood she says it has been robbed seven times.

“All the robbers kept coming here and I’d get the police here, twice in one night. One of them had a big dog,” she said.

Irelle’s house was insured, and the repairs have just finished so it is now liveable again.

“I wouldn’t want to go through it again - it’s too hard dealing with all the people,” she said.

Although, there are some good things to come out of the flood too.

“A little kitten arrived in the garage after the flood, I kept it and called it ‘flood’.”

-RNZ