Auckland Anniv floods: Māngere family still waiting for council categorisation one year on

A year on since the devastating Auckland Anniversary floods, a Māngere family have decided to repair their ravaged home, despite still waiting for Auckland Council to categorise their house.

Mother Sita Lee says their home is just a shell now.

"The water went right through where we lost everything," Lee says.

Their home in Māngere remains yellow stickered, which identifies it as hazardous due to moderate damage, therefore restricting access.

The family are waiting to receive one of six categorisation statuses, the worst of which being Risk Category 3 meaning the site poses "intolerable risk" and therefore may lead to a council buyout so that they can seek residency elsewhere.

"The best category is that they think you're fine and you can go back," Lee says, referring to Risk Category 1.

She says they may fall between Risk 1 and 3, as although the house has been damaged, the drainage system in their area could be fixed to prevent future flooding.

After feeling like nothing was happening, they decided to repair the house themselves, which worries Lee given she is yet to hear from Auckland Council about its category.

"If they come back and say something else you have to work around that. We're just hoping that we get a good outcome."

Auckland councillor Alf Filipaina says that the delay is due to a lack of assessors.

"With all the devastation that happened in Aotearoa, there are only a few people that could do that geo-tech work and assessment across Tāmaki Makaurau," Filipaina says.

He says he cannot offer an assessment timeframe but that he and fellow councillor Tauanu'u Nick Bukulich are constantly checking in.

However, following Pacific Media Network’s inquiries, a council spokesperson says Lee’s family can move ahead with repairs using their insurance payout, while they await a categorisation decision.

And in a written response, Mat Tucker, Group Recovery Manger of Auckland Council’s Tāmaki Makaurau Recovery Office acknowledged the Lee’s situation and others like them:

“We feel this weight and wish very much that we could do more, faster," the statement reads.

“We know this is taking longer than homeowners would like, but we must get it right especially because it’s about safety. These decisions will also signal the future liveability of a home and community, and inadvertently impact things like insurance too.”

Adding that council staff are offering a range of supports to affected families

“Please get in touch if you are in need. It’s a really complex situation to navigate and we can help connect with everything from financial and legal support, to helping people replace household items. Our team also speak a range of Pacific languages which we know is reassuring to a lot of people.

Watch our interview with Alf Filipaina via 531pi's FB page below:

The fight against the floods

Rewind twelve months, Lee vividly remembers the moment their lives were dramatically changed.

She says as the rain became heavier and heavier, she contacted Watercare after seeing manhole covers dislodged.

"It's like a norm ... because we're smack in the middle of the street."

She says after failing to reach Watercare she logged a job online, but an hour later the street and her driveway were already flooded, including her car.

Holding on to hope the family remained indoors, where Lee's 81-year-old mother sat and prayed through the downpour. However, when the water reached the top of their deck Lee knew they had to evacuate.

"As soon as I opened the sliding door the water started rushing in. I said to my Mum we have to go."

Screenshots from videos that Sita Lee took showing the rising waters. Photo/Supplied

She says it took some convincing but eventually her mother agreed to leave. They would then wade through waist high water, climbing over two fences to escape as their driveway was inaccessible.

Under the torrential downpour Lee says they received help escorting her mother through the chaos.

"I'm thankful for our neighbours, a beautiful Tongan family that lived further up on our street and helped us."

The following morning

Alf Filipaina says the morning after the flood he and Tauanu'u Nick Bakulich went out to the impacted communities, where Lee's story would be the first one they heard.

"I saw a family of about ten or twelve people and said to Nick let's go have a look," he says.

"It happened to be Sita's family. That's when we were told what happened and how the water was above everybody's head. They had to rescue Mum with all the other family."

Lee and her family were there to assess how badly damaged their home was.

"They were crying, some of the family. They also told us about other neighbours who had water past their windows."

Lee says she was grateful for Filipaina and Tauanu'u reaching out and directing community members to suitable support networks. She says she has remained in contact with Filipaina who checks in on the family daily.

Filipaina says he strives to keep in contact with multiple families impacted and waiting.

"I just want to acknowledge all of our families who have been impacted and still are being impacted during the floods."

Watch our full talanoa with Sita Lee below:

From hotels to a townhouse home

Seeking refuge, Lee's family "hotel-hopped" for a time which was difficult as they did not have access to a kitchen therefore they had to buy food.

"There were a lot of people in the hotels that were affected as well," she says.

Eventually they settled into more permanent accommodation, a townhouse, which was an improvement from their previous minimalistic situation.

"It's not your home but you make do with what you got and I'm grateful.

"My Mum's wanting to go home. It's about Mum, getting her back into the family home again."

Lee once loved the sound of rain but now not so much, as when it falls her anxiety rises, to the point of insomnia.

"I more or less think it's going to flood where I'm at, but it's not," she says.

"You just watch your house get flooded and there's nothing you can do. We left our house with just the clothes on our back.

"You look back now and wouldn't want to go through that again."

For more information about support related to the 2023 Auckland Anniversary floods:

• Email navigators@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

• Keep an eye out for our drop-in sessions across Auckland, including every Tuesday at the Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local Board office in the town centre.

• Navigators are also door-knocking in priority communities, and making their way around churches, and can do home visits.