Last House on the Street: Cyclone survivors feel trapped as looters loom

(xh ) Last House on the Street: Survivors feel trapped while looting

Mike and Sue Brown were trapped on their Pākōwhai roof eighteen months ago. Now they are trapped under it.

The couple, whose home in Hawke’s Bay was submerged under a mini ocean of water during Cyclone Gabrielle on February 14, 2023, they refused to accept a voluntary buyout of their now red-zoned home.

They say looters are turning to their renovated home, emboldened by the fact that their home is no longer surrounded by a thriving community.

The Browns say the decision to place their property in a Category 3 red zone – meaning the homes on it are considered an intolerable risk to life in future floods – was wrong from the start and left them a bleak future.

The sometimes fraught Category 3 process is now nearing completion in the region.

So far, 95% of the 167 eligible Category 3 property owners in Hawke’s Bay have received an offer to buy voluntarily and 83% have accepted the offer. Only eight properties have opted out of voluntary buyout as of late October.

Homeowners placed in Category 3 do not have to accept a purchase, but if they don’t, their options are limited. Insurance becomes almost impossible and the value of the home decreases as a result.

The Browns know this, but say they couldn’t afford to leave and didn’t particularly want to engage in a process led by councils – Hawke’s Bay Regional Council (HBRC) and Hastings District Council – which they say failed them during the cyclone.

“I was doing pretty well before the cyclone,” said Sue.

“Close to retirement with a small mortgage, we planned to stay here another 10 years, then sell up and down, leaving us with money in the bank.”

She says her dreams and choices have since been taken one step at a time.

“We have to stay here forever now,” Sue said. “And if we lose the house, I’ll be an old lady one day with nothing. It scares me.”

Mike says the rebuild was a no-brainer.

“The offer to buy came 12 months after the flood. We looked at the houses and were shocked that it brought you half a million dollars, which was amazing. Especially when so many people were looking to buy properties and paying top dollar for them. .

“We had no choice but to renovate the house according to the same plan.”

While Mike says he has moved on from their terrifying cyclone experience, Sue is still struggling. She made an online photo book of images capturing the day of the cyclone and its aftermath, including photos of them trapped on the roof.

“I thought it would help me move on, but it didn’t. I took one look at it when it arrived and then threw it under the coffee table,” Sue said.

“I don’t care what anyone says, our councils have not done their job and we are paying the ultimate price.

“They got stuffed. They admit it, but they haven’t apologized.”

A spokeswoman for Hastings District Council said it was focusing, after the immediate response on February 14, on restoring the transport network, supporting the heavy load of sludge collection and removal and voluntary takeover, where the vast majority of Category 3 homes are located .

“We’re really proud of the progress we’ve made to date,” the spokesperson said.

“This includes securing essential central government funding to support recovery work; the extensive program of works in progress to repair and rebuild our roads; and the significant progress we have made with voluntary buyout, which has provided hundreds of property owners with pathways to resettle in safer areas.”

Trying to escape

“We had no warning,” Mike and Sue Brown say of the flood that burst the banks of the Ngaruroro and Tūtaekuri rivers, completely inundating Pākōwhai, the settlement that lies between them.

“We weren’t on social media. We didn’t know anything about what was going on. Yes, it was raining heavily, but we weren’t worried at all.”

When they decided to leave, the couple didn’t even get halfway down Sissons Street before the water engulfed their caravan. They left the van and went back home.

Once inside, the water began to pour into their home, “Mike was sitting at the kitchen counter looking very distressed as the water came in over our newly laid carpet,” said Sue.

“I said ‘do you think we should make a plan?’

She took a ladder and put it on the side of the house and they put their four cats in the rafters of the garage and got their dog. By the time they were ready to climb the ladder, the current had taken her.

They managed to climb up and watched the water rise as they moved to the highest part of their roof.

After four hours, shortly before 5 p.m., a helicopter rescued them from the roof.

“We ended up at the Hastings Sports Centre,” said Sue. “Mike had hypothermia. We were wet, naked and wrapped in blankets. I was visibly distressed and then I told myself I can’t bring my dog ​​in. That broke me.”

After the cyclone

The cats did not survive.

Sue and Mike stayed in Hastings with a friend for six weeks before buying another van, which they lived in on their property for nine months while they tried to restore order.

“We had a wonderful team of people to help us clean up. We also had people come up and ask us if we minded going through our stuff piled up on the side of the road. Others helped themselves.”

They took some leeway when the going got too tough, but looters were a constant worry.

One day, Sue found her jewelry statue and a bracelet. He put them by the door. The next day they left.

Where now?

The couple say Hastings District Council and HRBC are largely oblivious to the problems of people who have not accepted purchases.

And the biggest problem facing the Browns, however, is robbery.

“By creating Category 3, they gave everyone a map to see where the empty houses were – perfect for looters.” Sue said.

“Cars come up and down our dead-end road at all hours of the night.

“And we don’t think there was a need for any category to begin with. It was devastating to see so many houses torn down around us and I think it was unnecessary.

“Surely there was a better solution? Now, those like us who didn’t accept a buyout are paying a huge price.”

A spokesman for Hastings District Council said the creation of the classification process was a central government function, with the actual classification of properties being undertaken by the HRBC.

“Council is aware of the activity referred to and has been working closely with communities and police to address it, including partnering with the community to add CCTV in Pākōwhai, footage of which has been shared with police to assist with their enquiries.

“We are very disappointed that some people took advantage of this situation.

“Information about Category 3 areas was made public as soon as they were identified – the council does not believe it has encouraged people to engage in this activity by making maps of these areas available.”

Taking over the purchase

It disappeared. Demolished. A 20-year-old house reduced to dust.

For Ruth Spittle and her partner, it’s a bitter pill to swallow as the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle continues to hit them. They are not the only ones in the farming community and lifestyle of Pākōwhai devastated as flood waters from the Tūtaekuri and Ngarurōrō rivers inundated their properties.

For Spittle, the battle with HRBC and Hastings District Council is over. Their home in Gilligan Rd was zoned 3 after being moved in and out of the red zone.

“We are singled out. All our hard work of the last 20 years just disappeared.”

She said they really had no choice but to accept the buyout offered by the council.

“We are at the end of our professional lives. If we chose to stay and rebuild, there would be no insurance. Although we could stay and live on the land, we could not afford to buy another house and renovate our house in Pākōwhai.

“There are a lot of people of a similar age in the area at the end of their careers – late 60s to early 70s. When we bought another house, everyone was looking for a place to live. We paid top market prices.”

Spittle says her biggest bugbear remains looters.

“They’re still there. When I signed the house over to the council, four companies came to give quotes for the demolition costs. Immediately afterwards the looters came and took all the copper pipes and a heat transfer unit.”

What is Category 3?

The land classification process was mandated by the central government and then conducted by the HRBC to assess the risk to life from flood events in various areas following the effects of Cyclone Gabrielle.

Based on the maps, the voluntary purchase program led by Hastings and Napier councils began to help remove “intolerable risks to life from any future flood events in Category 3 areas”.

There are 326 Category 3 properties in Hawke’s Bay, of which 167 are eligible for voluntary purchase (153 in Hastings and 14 in Napier).

The land classification process is complete and the actual category a property falls into will remain relevant until the voluntary purchase process is completed and the flood mitigation projects (being led by the HBRC) are completed.

Ninety-five per cent of eligible property owners received a voluntary purchase offer, with around 83 per cent accepting the offer at this stage.

Just under 5% of property owners (eight properties) chose not to accept voluntary purchase at this stage.

A spokeswoman for Hastings District Council ultimately said the process was (and is) voluntary, the bids were very fair and property owners had to weigh up preferences about the available pathways.

“Some property owners have chosen not to accept the purchase and remain living on their properties,” a spokeswoman for Hastings District Council said.

“The availability of insurance is outside the council’s control, but the Council is proud to have provided avenues for property owners who have not faced any insurance in Category 3 areas.”

HRBC has provided specific information about the purchasing process for this item. A request for a response to other issues raised in this article has been sent to Hastings District Council.

LDR is local journalism, co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.