'We've got nothing left': Pregnant Westport couple flooded out and nowhere to go
Wednesday, 21 July 2021
With a baby due in two weeks, Tyler Croft and Amy Axford-Hooker are at the sharp end of the housing crisis in Westport.
Their rented house in Derby St, where they had lived for a year before being evacuated on Friday, has been red-stickered and all their belongings are a soggy mess. Their home was flooded by about a metre of water, leaving only ornaments on the wall untouched.
Axford-Hooker is expecting a baby boy, whom the couple want to call Tommy. She and Croft lived in the house with Croft’s father, Brian, 64. They have Croft's son Jackson every other weekend. For now, they are bunked in with Croft's mother in Waimangaroa but with space at a premium that can't stay there indefinitely.
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“It’s going to be extremely hard [to find new accommodation] in Westport,” Croft said, “There was already a housing crisis. I'm absolutely gutted. I try to keep my chin up. It’s better than crying.”
They are among 200 to 300 Westport residents expected to be forced from their homes due to the floods. Buller District Mayor Jamie Cleine said on Wednesday he expected about 100 properties would be “red-stickered”. More than 30 had been deemed uninhabitable so far.
Sites for temporary accommodation villages in the town were being identified, and Cleine said portable homes could soon begin being delivered from Canterbury. Some residents could be living in the villages for years, he said.
“The intention will be to have a mixture of options [family and worker-oriented] and some of it will be set-up in anticipation of it being there for quite some time.”
Axford-Hooker and Croft’s plight was particularly pointed, as their contents weren't insured but help has poured in. They are very grateful for the messages of support and practical help. A school friend of Croft's, who lives in Ashburton, has organised new baby clothes and equipment but the priority is finding a place to live. If they can't find it in Westport, which they love, they will have to move.
Axford-Hooker is on maternity leave from her job as a cleaner and Croft is waiting for reconstruction surgery on his knee. The 31-year-old is a digger and truck driver.
“We've got nothing left,” he said, “We're keeping our chin up and trying to move forward.”
“The main priority now is getting bubby and my partner sorted. We need to find a house and start again.
Axford-Hooker said the couple was grateful for the help and messages of support in such a “horrible and very emotional” situation.
“I'm very lucky the baby didn't arrive at this time because I wouldn't have been able to come back to the house.
“What I really need is a safe, dry place for my family so we can be secure and happy.”
“The baby's room was all prepared and ready. I set the bassinet up a few days before the floods. Coming into baby's room and seeing all his clothes and his toys trashed is really devastating.
“People have heard about us and we're so grateful for the messages. It's great to know there are people out there who care. It makes life so much easier knowing we have this stuff coming to us.”
Any flood-hit West Coast or Marlborough residents who needed temporary accommodation could register with the government’s Temporary Accommodation Service on 0508 754 163 or via the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment website.