Residents are being evacuated in parts of West Auckland as wild weather causes extensive flooding in some parts of the city. Video / NZ Herald / Eloise Maingay / Dean Purcell
Peter King was about to go to bed Monday night when he heard what sounded like a jet plane in the back yard of his Karekare home.
"I went to open the door and the water completely surrounded the house and was about an inch from going in," the Karekareresident recalled.
He scrambled to move his possessions to higher ground, but seconds later he noticed water seeping through the floorboards and decided to instead focus on turning off the power. Just moments later, the water was already knee-deep.
He fled the home in the middle of the night, with only a book of photos and one other possession in hand.
King says his was one of many hard-luck stories from West Auckland yesterday as residents dealt with a rare flooding event. But despite the destroyed belongings, he said he's been humbled by the kindness of strangers, with four people having offered him places to stay for the duration of Auckland's lockdown.
"I'm blown away by everyone," he said. "This is the first time anything like this has happened to me. I've never needed to ask for anything.
"You don't realise how nice these strangers are here. I'm quite humbled."
Peter King's Karekare home suffered extensive flood damage.
Dozens of people have also contributed to a Givealittle fundraiser started by his niece.
King, who has been renting the home for over 10 years, spent the afternoon salvaging what he could. There wasn't much, he said.
The home, like many others, is near Karekare stream.
"It's normally just a little trickle," he explained. "But it was like a raging current. I've never seen it like that, ever."
Without renters insurance, King doesn't know what he'll do in the long term. But for now he will stay at a bach that has been offered to him in Piha by a kind stranger.
It's left him feeling thankful on what has been an otherwise traumatising day.
