Far North residents trapped by flooding say enough is enough

Miro Place residents Nathalia and Mina Pomare with Hilda Sneddon, who says she and her neighbours are sick of the constant flooding on their street. Photo / Myjanne Jensen

Residents of a Far North cul-de-sac are saying enough is enough after being trapped in their homes by floodwaters due to this week’s heavy rain.

According to residents of Kaitaia’s Miro Place, repeated flooding on their street has progressively worsened in the last 12 months, often leaving homes stranded until floodwaters recede.

They claim this can sometimes take days, with those trapped inside their homes having to stay inside or rely on others to get them out with trucks.

Anthony Hannon is one such resident, and has lived on Miro Place for around four years.

Hannon claimed he’d been stuck inside for most of this week thanks to the rain, which started last Friday.

“Right now, I’m looking at a pool of water, and down the other end of the road, you can’t get out due to the flooding at the T-junction of the road,” Hannon said on Tuesday.

“My car isn’t going at the moment, so I usually have to walk everywhere, but unless I cut over my neighbour’s property or cling to their fence to get around the water, I can’t get out.

“In August, I was stuck inside for at least three days, which wasn’t ideal, as I needed to get to the chemist and doctor.

“My neighbours also have Alzheimer’s, which isn’t great when you’re trapped inside your house all day.”

Hannon said he’d like to see Far North District Council act and not “shift the problem around”.

Hilda Sneddon has lived on the street for around 30 years, and said the last year had seen a constant build-up of water with each heavy rain event.

She said she and other residents were sick of the constant floodwaters and wanted a permanent solution to the problem.

“You hear the rain at night and think, ‘Okay, we’re going to be flooded in the morning’,” Sneddon said.

According to long-time Miro Place residents, the past year's flooding was the worst they'd ever seen in the cul-de-sac.

“What I get annoyed about is how they’re busy beautifying the main street, but then you have problems like this.

“I think the council has just been hoping it will just go away, but it’s not [going to]. They need to do something about the drainage system.”

A third concerned resident who wished to remain anonymous said he’d attempted to call Far North District Council for assistance on Tuesday morning but had been referred to the emergency after-hours number, which allegedly rang out.

He said the water had risen to its peak on Tuesday night, reaching around 430-450ml by 11pm.

By 11am the next day (Wednesday), it had gone down to 250ml, and by 1pm, the water was still around knee-height.

The man said he’d lived on the street for many years, and claimed he’d never experienced flooding like he had this year.

“I called the council this (Tuesday) morning to ask them to send down a big pump because we have people here who can’t get out of their homes,” he said.

“The water only started going away on Monday from last week’s rain, but now it’s come back again.

“The footpaths are flooded, people who don’t have a car have to walk and we’ve got kids here who need to get to school.

“You’d think in this day and age, and in an urban place like this, it would be something that would be fixed straight away.”

According to the man, a similar problem allegedly occurred around 15 years ago, whereby the drain leading into the nearby soccer fields had been clogged with weeds.

He claimed a local digger operator had cleaned out the drains, immediately rectifying the issue.

Yesterday afternoon, the Northland Age was advised the same local digger operator had allegedly returned to Miro Place to clear the drains.

Hannon confirmed that while he didn’t see the digger, he was shocked when he went outside to see the water had almost gone.

“I can now walk out of my house as the water is pretty much clear - it’s an amazing result,” Hannon said.

“It looks like he’s unblocked the left-hand side of the cul-de-sac, but maybe not the drain on the other side, which is still full of water.

“I would say the routine maintenance hasn’t been done and as a result, the blockage in the drain has gotten worse with time.”

The anonymous neighbour confirmed he’d witnessed the digger operator attend to the drain, which he said had been cleared in no time.

“We have had to put up with a flooded street for a whole week due to a problem that took about 20 minutes for a machine to deal with,” the man said.

FNDC Infrastructure and Asset Management general manager Andy Finch said flooding at Miro Place was a known issue to the council.

Finch explained the channel the outlet pipe from Miro Place went into was part of reserve maintenance for Tangonge Domain, which then joined another channel through private land and ran out to the Awanui River.

The ability for stormwater to drain away could therefore be significantly reduced when river levels were high, Finch said, meaning stormwater could back up and flood the cul-de-sac during heavy rains.

“Regular inspections and flushing of the stormwater lines do occur, and an inspection conducted last week showed the lines and outlet channel to be clear,” Finch said.

“However, further work undertaken today (Wednesday) cleared a blockage near a manhole at the rear of numbers five and six, Miro Place.

“Cesspits near the T-intersection of Miro Place were also checked and cleared. This has allowed excess water to drain away freely.”

Finch said the council acknowledged there were wider issues contributing to flooding at Miro Place, with investigations under way in the catchment for both wastewater and stormwater, using CCTV cameras to inspect the network.

“Initial analysis indicates the stormwater pipes may be undersized for the volumes of water they need to deal with. Further investigation to gain a more complete picture of the problem is now being planned,” Finch said.

“To fully resolve this, the council will need to engage with various stakeholders, including NRC and private landowners.

“This will be included in ongoing investigations of the catchment, the first stage of which is producing detailed designs for the update of wastewater pipes and pump stations.”