Wellington's flood affected residents call for financial support to future proof homes

Items lying in the water at Catherine Leech's home after the floods.

Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii

A group of Wellington residents affected by floods two months ago are calling on both local and central government for financial support to ensure their homes are safe from future storms.

Residents on Wellington's south coast and neighbouring suburbs woke to find their homes, businesses and cars submerged in water by flash flooding on 20 April.

Many people remain in their homes as they deal with the damage, but the worst hit - around 25 households - are still living in temporary accommodation, likely to be for months.

They include Berhampore couple Josh and Ali Palmer who scaled a nearly two-metre high fence with their baby when their home was inundated by a torrent of water.

Ōwhiro Bay resident Catherine Leech, her partner Barnaby Bocock and their three teenagers also had a terrifying escape "neck deep in cold water" at 4am.

Catherine Leech and her partner Barnaby Bocock.

Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii

Leech told Morning Report the family was now living in a rental and would be lucky to be back home by Christmas. It had been "completely gutted", she said.

"All of the walls are out. It's essentially the four outer walls, the frame and the ceiling, the roof. It's full of dryers to dry out the frame... we're probably not going to be back until towards the end of the year, that's all going well and if we don't get delayed."

A dozen residents including Leech are calling on the Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery Mark Mitchell and Wellington Mayor Andrew Little for help to make their homes future proofed. They met at the weekend to draft a letter to send to both officials.

In general New Zealand spent too much money "fixing up" in the wake of devastating storms, and less on stopping them from happening in the first place, Leech said.

"What we're asking for now is a response similar to what was put in place after the Auckland floods in 2023, where properties were assessed according to their risk, [before] a programme of works was offered and co-funded by central government and local government to help property owners mitigate any of those future risks."

Many flood victims are looking at raising their houses, but at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars, Catherine Leech says.

Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii

Many flood victims are looking at raising their houses, but at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars, she said.

"A lot of people, including ourselves, we don't readily have that money. This is a massive financial investment that we potentially need to make, to make sure that we can safely live in our home and that our home doesn't become a risk."

Leech had received a contribution from Wellington's flood relief fund and she felt "very lucky" in that she had good insurance cover.

"A lot of people are not so lucky, so from the sort of repair side of things, we're okay. We are also very grateful for the rates relief that the Council have agreed."

But she was worried about the future.

"A lot of us now [know] our properties are clearly at risk for any future events of this sort. Our family particularly, we're not going to feel very happy going back to our house knowing that this could happen again."

"Your home is your asset, right? If we're in this situation where we can't sell our house or potentially we can't get any insurance in the future, that asset is negated.

"We need to make some changes so we don't face an insurance retreat in the future, and that we can safely live in our homes and know that our homes and, for future generations, our communities are safe."

"What we're asking for is for Wellington to be considered along the same lines as Auckland was back in 2023."

'Plausible solutions'

Asked how it might respond to the residents' call for assistance, a Wellington City Council spokesperson said Owhiro stream and other flood-prone areas of the city, were being "closely examined" by the council and other agencies following the April flood.

It was preparing a report on the impact of the flooding in south Karori and the southern suburbs, including what happened to Owhiro Stream.

A Local Climate Adaptation programme is also planned, with a pilot running in Island Bay and Houghton Bay. This would "develop a shared understanding of the unavoidable local impacts of climate change and plausible solutions [including] flooding and sea-level rise.

"Reports on these two matters are scheduled to be considered by a Council committee in September."

Minister Mark Mitchell has been contacted for comment.

More than 200 apply for flood support

A spokesperson for Wellington City Mission said it had received 228 applications to the Flood Relief Fund from individuals and families seeking support.

The fund has raised just over $380,000 and the amount paid out of that so far is $276,000. The remainder would be distributed in the coming weeks, they added.

Josh and Ali Palmer's home after the floods on 20 April.

Photo: Supplied / Josh and Ali Palmer

Wellington City Council said it had had received 60 applications for rates relief so far, with the closing date for that being 30 June. A spokesperson said the council was assessing applications, with 13 approved so far.

A WCC spokesperson said additional support for renters was available through the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's (MBIE) Temporary Accommodation Service (TAS). Most of the 18 households who applied for support were still in TAS supported accommodation, with new applications also still occurring.

"Currently, there are three households awaiting allocation and three requiring accommodation in the near future."

Welfare advice and information is available here.

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