Unequal destruction: The crisis continues for Auckland's most vulnerable whānau

Thursday, 2 February 2023

Kelly Faaui and her family lost everything when a flood ripped through south Auckland.

Auckland’s floods have had very different consequences, upending the lives of many of the city’s most vulnerable families while life continues as normal in many wealthy neighbourhoods. Glenn McConnell reports.

Māngere is still in crisis mode.

The flooding that hit Auckland caused chaos across the region, but it’s most severely felt in places like Māngere and Ranui – home to very diverse communities, and some of the most vulnerable as well.

Now, as much of the city moves on, community groups in Māngere are going door to door. They’ve found homes with 20 people living in them, as families were forced to move in with neighbours and relatives after their own homes were flooded.

* Auckland mayor Wayne Brown's own staff: 'We're doing a terrible job'

* From Auckland's floodwaters of devastation, heroes and acts of kindness emerge

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins visits a community emergency centre in Māngere, south Auckland.

On Saturday, Auckland mayor Wayne Brown described the rainstorm as a “complex” phenomenon.

He said he was first alerted to it thanks to Shane Henderson, a councillor of West Auckland. Strong rains were heading down the country, and Henderson had firsthand reports of streets being completely submerged by 5pm.

Residents in Māngere clean up after the flood.

“For some people, it was a very focused, dreadful, sudden storm. For other people it was a night of rain,” Brown said.

That wide disparity has continued through the emergency response and cleanup as well.

Harriet Pauga works at Te Whatu Ora, Health New Zealand, as its northern director for Pasifika health. But over the weekend, she became a DIY crisis response manager for Māngere.

“We wanted to see what the Civil Defence was doing and what Auckland Emergency Management were doing. But there wasn't anything,” she said.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins (middle) with Finance Minister Grant Robertson (right) and Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty (left) during the Auckland floods.

Pauga said the impacts of flooding were having a major impact on lower income whānau, in part because the houses had more people living in them. State houses and affordable housing were also more likely to be built on flood prone land.

She said many families had been living in garages, which flooded more easily. Elderly tenants, disabled people and pensioners were also more likely to live in these homes, she said.

With other community leaders, including Auckland councillor Alf Filipaina, Pauga set up an emergency response centre on Sunday – two nights after the rain hit.

It was so busy that they had to move to a bigger centre.

Residents in Māngere Bridge empty their homes due to flood damage.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins visited the Māngere emergency centre.

Five nights after the flood, dozens of people were still arriving needing help.

Hipkins offered his support to the volunteers and agencies in Māngere, but declined to comment on whether officials had been too slow to respond.

“As I've indicated, ever since Saturday, there'll be an opportunity to reflect… once we’re through the emergency response,” he said.

Residents in Māngere clean up after their homes were flooded. Residents dump belongings into skips on Ventura St.

“I want to acknowledge the grassroots community support for those kinds of initiatives. They make such a difference.”

The floods hit south Auckland late on Friday. Bader Dr, the main road through Māngere, was completely underwater by 9pm.

Houses between Bader and the stream, many which were state homes, were completely flooded.

Kāinga Ora, which owns state housing, has close to 300 properties facing significant damage. As of Tuesday, it said 166 of its homes were fully uninhabitable. It had lodged 2000 maintenance orders, after fielding 4000 calls from tenants following the rainstorms.

PJ Chu-Ling, a Kāinga Ora tenant in Henderson, says many people can’t afford to replace their belongings.

Kāinga Ora acting deputy chief executive for the north, John Tubberty said the agency was having to work quickly after widespread damage – and extra demands from families needing emergency accommodation.

“We’re concerned about the extent of flood damage to new Kāinga Ora homes in Ventura St, in Māngere,” he said.

Auckland Council red stickered many of those houses after the flood.

“These are new homes that we hoped would last for many decades. We will be thoroughly investigating how and why they failed,” he said.

In Henderson, West Auckland, many state houses and homes of lower income families were completely flooded on Friday.

Stuff spoke to residents in Henderson, hearing that many didn’t have contents insurance – and had to evacuate with their furniture underwater.

'I've got no insurance, straight up, none of us here do in the hood. It's gone,” PJ Chu-Ling said.

Thomas Henry, a Māori Warden from Māngere, said the community had to come together to set up their own emergency evacuation centres.

“We knew we had to start something, for the safety of our people. I’m local, I know the whānau and know they needed somewhere,” he said.

As the storm passed over Auckland, councillor Josephine Bartley said communities had been left to their own devices.

Late on Friday, Stuff saw elderly residents being evacuated through floodwaters on top of inflatable beds and on Styrofoam sheets pulled from construction sites.

A few police officers had braved the floodwaters to help with evacuations. However, emergency responders were unable to get specialist equipment which could get through the water safely.

Bartley said many thought that more official help would arrive, but it never did. In the movies, she said, the army or someone else always comes to save the day – but in Māngere and many other areas, it was neighbours and everyday people who dared to walk through the water.