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Nikola Fretton is breathing a sigh of relief after building inspectors declared her home was safe to stay in after it suffered damage in the Auckland floods.
Her home was one of two on her Māngere street which were marked with a white “can be used” sign by Auckland Council inspectors on Sunday.
A white sign meant the home passed a quick, visual inspection and had no obvious structural problems. However, it did not mean the building wasn’t damaged, or, that future events could cause further damage.
For now, Fretton, her husband and their two children, aged four and one, can stay put.
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Two neighbours weren’t as lucky – their homes were marked with a red note and entry prohibited because of structural damage and risk from external hazards.
One of the homes was visibly on an angle, dubbed “the leaning tower” by residents.
“We have no other place to go if we get told to move out,” Fretton said.
“We have family nearby, but they’re all full up, we don’t want to inconvenience anybody.”
Ricky Wilson/Stuff
Red notices like this was seen outside two homes on Ventura St in Māngere.
They were away on Friday night when heavy rain battered the region. At about 6pm they got a call from her brother who was at home at the time, panicking.
“We told him to turn off all the electricals because I didn’t want him electrocuted. It was a bit of a scramble to come home, all the cars was pretty much deep in water by the time we got back.
“The water outside was higher outside than it was inside which was good. I saw the water in the house and I just thought, ‘I can’t afford any new things right now’.
“So I’m just seeing what I can save at the moment.”
Ricky Wilson/Stuff
Māngere residents were drying out their belongings after their homes were flooded on Friday night.
When Stuff caught up with her, she was taking all clothes that were drenched from the floods to the laundromat.
“I’m just happy we have power to be honest. We have water too, so we can do some cleaning.”
When building inspectors came to assess her home, she admitted she was stressed.
“I was just hoping our home was still liveable, it’s going to be a struggle for us to move somewhere else. There’s not exactly a lot of emergency housing available at the moment.”
Neighbour Piri Howell, whose house also got a white sign, said they had to swim out to a nearby school when their home got flooded.
The first floor of their home and all its furniture were wrecked by floodwater.
Howell said they were fortunate to have a sympathetic landlord who has offered to foot the cleaning bill and replace damaged appliances.
“He’s also waived our next rent, so we’re in a pretty good spot. If anything, this event has brought the neighbourhood closer together.”
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown was at the Māngere site with council building inspectors.
“Today I’m here with building inspectors to see the system that they have and I’m very impressed. They’re being very empathetic, they’re only moving people out if they really have to,” Brown said.
“If it’s just water through their homes, they can still live there, even if it’s very unfortunate for those people.”
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