Auckland flooding: Kumeū residents face long wait for repairs

Tuesday, 14 September 2021

Kumeū needs early warning systems to avoid a repeat of August's destructive floods, local resident Guy Wishart says.

A fortnight after floodwaters swept through his Kumeū home, Guy Wishart is coming to terms with the harsh realities of a lengthy clean-up process.

“You ride the adrenaline for the first day, but then it all collapses. You’ve realise you’ve lost everything, it’s all rotting away,” he said.

Wishart has lived in the area for eight years with his wife and children, and he knew to expect heavy rain on the night of August 31. He never expected to wake up with 30cm of water around his ankles.

“You wake up to the waters rising, your family are screaming, and you’re frantically moving things further up the house to safety, it's traumatising. The stuff of nightmares,” said Wishart.

Guy Wishart is a Kumeū resident whose property suffered substantial damage.

Wishart – whose home, farms and cars were wrecked in the flood – is one of many West Auckland residents who suffered losses during the flooding. More than 5500 homes were assessed for damage, and the council confirmed 169 placards restricting entry had been issued as of September 10.

While the psychological impacts are heavy enough, Wishart has spent the last week repairing parts of his flood-damaged home, with calls to plumbers and builders who often aren’t turning up when required.

Nurse and Kumeū local Renate McLeod had to leave her home and belongings when the floods swept through her street. The cul-de-sac was waist-high in water at its peak. McLeod is currently taking shelter with her two sons in a cabin provided by insurance.

A national shortage of building supplies means she isn’t expecting her repairs to progress quickly.

“You’ve gotta make a plan and get on with it, it’s not like you can stay in a motel for six months,” said McLeod.

Wishart’s home has been wrecked by the flood, with a tide mark on the sofa and the walls still sodden.

“I'm looking at months and months [of repairs], the whole kitchen is being pulled out at the moment – that won’t be quick fix.”

The NZ Building Federation expects enough materials will be available for the rebuild of west Auckland homes, it’s the challenge of transporting said materials from warehouses during level 4 that becomes an issue.

A spokesman from the federation said structural timber will be one of the items likely to cause the most delays, a material critical for properties suffering from water-damaged walls.

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More than 5500 homes are being assessed for damage after the flooding. A building supplies shortage nationally means many home repairs are likely to be slow.

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“West Auckland homeowners who are allowed to rebuild under level 4 should be asking their builders to order building materials now,” said the spokesman.

“There will be a massive surge in demand for all building products from the rest of New Zealand, once Auckland is in level 3, which will lead to delays in everything, not just structural timber.”

Discussions with the council have taken place in the last seven days to develop an early-warning system for residents, who feel aggrieved they had little knowledge of the flood risk before the storm.

Business owners will likely bear the brunt of the supplies issue, as every week that level 4 continues eats into their reserves. According to regional authorities, the following months could be the worst yet for small business entrepreneurs.

“Some businesses, with the damage to their properties could require six to eight weeks of repairs,” said Phelan Pirrie, Rodney Local Board chair.

Pirrie, who worked in retail during the power crisis in the 1990s, knows issues like these can snowball.

“Two or three months of bills before you can get people through the door? It’s about to get really, really hard for businesses.

“They’re probably the worst affected in all of New Zealand.”