Rotorua residents 'fed up' with drainage issues after flood

Ceryn Hutin outside her Glenholme home with flood-damaged household items. Photo / Andrew Warner

Every time it rains Chris Parnell and some other residents around Rotorua become anxious. This week was no different.

Parnell woke up in the middle of Tuesday night to find his Glenholme backyard filling up with water. It flowed over a sandbag barrier and the downstairs level of his home flooded, damaging some household items and resulting in him having to "rip up" the carpet.

Flooding was a "significant and ongoing" problem for locals, Parnell said.

He said the flooding had caused a "lot of despair" in the community and people were disappointed because they felt lakefront beautification had been prioritised over fixing stormwater infrastructure.

"There is a lot of anxiety every time it rains in this neighbourhood. As much as we love what they are doing at the lakefront, our community is going underwater. It is a painful juxtaposition.

"Every time it rains, we have a general unease. But we are trying to tackle it proactively."

Parnell said, in his view, the capacity of his street's stormwater system was not sufficient.

Rotorua resident Chris Parnell, who is currently isolation, surveys a room his family are trying to dry out. Photo / Supplied

The family had a few "close calls" with the backyard flooding in the past but Tuesday was the first time it had entered the house, he said.

"Our whole backyard fills up and the stormwater just stops flowing."

He was now looking into other solutions - including building a flood wall - which would cost "thousands of dollars".

He said about five homes in the neighbourhood had been impacted by flooding, describing the problem as "significant and ongoing".

Rotorua Lakes Council infrastructure and environmental solutions acting deputy chief executive Regan Fraser said the council was aware of the increasing impact of weather events and that investing in "safe, reliable infrastructure" was a "top priority".
 
The council's infrastructure strategy included investment of more than $75 million for stormwater works over 10 years, he said.
 
This would help increase the capacity of its networks to cater for "growth and the effects of climate change".

Central and western areas were "priority areas" for stormwater upgrades.

"[The] council is awaiting the outcome of funding applications to the Government which, if successful, would enable us to deliver these upgrades sooner."

Glenholme's Ceryn Hutin has hired a skip bin to dispose of furniture and family memorabilia destroyed in Wednesday's flood.

"I came downstairs and stepped off the step into a pool."

The family of four woke up that morning to find the entire downstairs of their house - including the garage - filled with water.

Ceryn Hutin outside her Glenholme home with flood-damaged household items. Photo / Andrew Warner

"The furniture needs to be replaced and we have lost a lot of memorabilia - that is what has upset us the most," she said.

"It's just the volume of damage it has done and having to sort through everything."

Hutin, who moved into the property about a year ago, said the house smelled "revolting" and the carpet was still soaked with water.

"I just want to get the stuff out of the house so the carpet can be ripped up. Moisture is creeping up the walls," she said.

"I am devastated. We feel violated almost - it is just ridiculous. We knew the house flooded in the 2018 storm - but that had been classified as a one-in-150-year event. How frequently is this going to happen?"

Hutin said the flood water that filled her house was about seven inches deep. Photo / Andrew Warner

Another Glenholme resident, Mike Baker, said drainage on his street was a "major problem" and infrastructure "can't cope" with downpours.

"It is the system itself that has failed. The system should be able to handle the heavy rain."

He was woken up by his wife at 5am on Wednesday to find water "lapping at the door", with his front yard completely flooded.

The water made its way into the house and damaged the kitchen, lounge, hallway and garage.

He said the flooding had "come back to haunt us" as the home had been badly impacted in the 2018 floods.

"Twice now this has happened to us - and by no means are we in a flood zone. The drains are the problem."

He was frustrated and felt improving the street's stormwater infrastructure was "not a priority" for Rotorua Lakes Council.

Springfield's Mandy Rangiwhetu said she was "fed up" with the flooding. She said Tuesday was the fourth time her house had flooded in the past six years.

Knee-level water in the garage and driveway left her car, gym equipment and lounge suite damaged and Rangiwhetu believed the flooding was due to "insufficient drainage" in the area.

"I just want a solution. I want the council to be aware that we don't have enough drains on this end of Springfield Rd.

Mandy Rangiwhetu with her son Boston inside her garage after it was flooded in 2021. Photo / NZME

"There is bugger-all drainage at the lowest point of Springfield Rd. When we get torrential rain, it is hard for it to keep up."

Her car and garage were flooded at Easter last year after a storm.

"It is the fourth time this has happened to us and it is not good enough. We have another big clean-up to do and my new car - that isn't even a year old - needs to be professionally dried."

The council had made contact with Parnell and Baker and would get in touch with Rangiwhetu, Fraser said.