By Finn Blackwell of RNZ
On Saturday, it will be a year since the Auckland region was devastated in mass floods, leading to widespread damage and the deaths of four people.
On 27 January 2022, Auckland experienced catastrophic flooding which displaced residents and cost billions of dollars in recovery efforts.
A year on, much of the city is back to normal, but there are still those struggling in the wake of the floods, still unable to return to their homes.
More than 7000 properties were stickered in the aftermath of the floods, following rapid building assessments.
Over 4500 households required some form of storm-related assistance, with more than 600 receiving emergency accommodation.
As of 1 December 2023, there were just over 8000 insurance claims outstanding from the floods.
Auckland Council said 1570 properties were yet to be categorised, which it hoped would be done in a few months.
I just want an answer from the council'
Glenn Whittington and Renate McLeod were in their home in the West Auckland suburb of Swanson when the floods hit.
Photos they took from that night show the river in their backyard swelling, to the point where it reached their back kitchen window and came into the house, about four metres from where it normally sits.
"It just came up really quickly," McLeod said.
"It was below the deck, and I had to get the dogs out and get out.
"I wasn't going to hang around because you never know how strong it's going to be."
Whittington said they had to take what they could and leave before it was too late.
"Dogs, cars, you're trying to save what you can," he said.
McLeod was now living in an apartment off of a garage, still paying the mortgage on her inundated home.
She said she tried to stay positive throughout, though the past year had been a huge challenge.
Dealing with Auckland Council, looters breaking into their property, and ongoing uncertainty had been draining.
McLeod said her house was still awaiting categorisation, and she said she wanted answers from the council.
"They've done the assessments, the engineer's come and then they had to send someone else to do some measurements, and that's all we're waiting for," she said.
"I just want an answer from the council, what they are going to do, and if it's not a buy out, how are they going to fix the problem?"
Whittington said the lack of clarity was frustrating.
"A year on is disgusting," he said.
"Get a move on with the houses, lives matter and they need to sort that out."
The pair said their day to day had been dominated by trying to arrange next steps.
"It's a serious financial burden, you can't do anything with your life," Whittington said.
"There's a big mortgage coming out, the banks aren't giving anyone any reprieve."
"You can't even move on with life," McLeod said.
"It's just in complete Limbo."
West Auckland was just one of the areas severely hit during the floods.
'I know this never seems like it's going fast enough' - council recovery group
Auckland Council group recovery manager Mat Tucker said he was pleased they had been able to begin purchasing category three properties before Christmas last year.
"That was a really key achievement, not only for the Recovery Office, but in particular for the people that are either displaced from their homes or their homes are in a terrible state and in that category three," he said.
Tucker described categorisation process as uncharted territory.
"It's really uncharted territory for Auckland Council and for any of the other councils around New Zealand who are trying to understand and develop the policy that sits beneath this categorisation process, categories one, two and three, and get that policy developed so that it's robust and defensible and makes sense, and can be implemented in a uniform and fair way," he said.
"To have got through that in the time that we did ... was really pleasing."
The scale of the floods and scope of the damage had been a challenge, Tucker said.
"We are dealing with somewhere between [7000] and 10,000 homeowners," he said.
"With that comes a large team, we need to get through that number of homes, and the on-site inspections, we have to go literally home by home in Auckland in this urban environment to understand different potential solutions for different homes."
One of the office's goals for 2024 was the implementation of the 2P Scheme, he said.
"That's where there's a property level intervention that homeowners can carry out to help protect their home," he said.
"It might be raising a home higher above the ground, doing some work on an overland flow path to better manage that across a property."
Tucker said finalising categorisations remained a priority.
"By the time we get to [March], we will have finished the vast majority of the site visits and the categorisations.
"Except for where that work is complicated, and often reliant upon large-scale engineering solutions.
"That's more difficult, and that work in some of those areas will take until mid this year, so June rather than March."
For those still waiting on categorisation, Tucker said he understood their frustration.
"I know this never seems like it's going fast enough, everyday longer that a homeowner has to wait, I understand, is a day too long.
"If I had a magic wand and I could fix all of this, and get the resources I needed, and get them doing all the things that could be done, needed to be done miles and miles more quickly, I would be waving that magic wand.
"Having said that, in these situation there's always a balance between speed and accuracy, you have to do a reasonable amount of work to get yourself to a place with the policy, and the planning, and the processes before you can launch into the community and start categorising houses.
"It's a life-changing event for thousands and thousands of families."
There have so far been more than 800 rates remission transactions in Auckland for more than $3.05 million with an average of $3693 per property.
Auckland Council said they had reviewed rates relief settings to ensure coverage for those in need.
