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A heavily-pregnant woman due to give birth any day now has been left homeless after debris-filled floodwater ravaged her west Auckland home.
In less than an hour, couple James and Jamie Wolley went from owning a three-bedroom house in Rānui to living in a spare bedroom at their parents’ house in Henderson as a swelled-up Swanson stream burst its banks and swept through their property on Friday.
The couple is about to welcome their firstborn son amid the uncertainty of where to take him.
“We had a nursery, all new furniture, and the house was all set to welcome the baby ... now it’s all gone,” Jamie Wolley told the Herald.
James and Jamie Wolley's Rānui home was ravaged by raging floodwaters on Friday. Photo / Jamie Wolley
Debris-filled flood waters reached the front door of Wolley's residence after Friday's deluge. Photo / Jamie Wolley
The water level reached overhead at the bottom end of their property and at the top end it was knee-deep, she said.
“I just couldn’t believe it. It is the second time in 18 months we have been flooded. Last time in 2021 we were lucky the water was under the house, it stopped outside.
“This time we were not so lucky.”
The stress of being almost “homeless” was significant, so much that she had not been able to sleep for the past week, Wolley said.
“I just didn’t sleep. I haven’t slept the past week, all these things going through my head, couldn’t believe it happened again.
“It is just stuff we lost but when you are 40 weeks pregnant you want to take your newborn baby back to your home.
“We are lucky to have support from family and friends. But the spare room at my parent’s is not an ideal situation to live in with a baby.”
Jamie and James Wolley are expecting a newborn any day. They are staying with family after their house in Ranui was badly damaged by the Auckland floods. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
Auckland Council had since yellow-stickered her house and the people who were working to get it back in shape told her it would take a long time before her home could be habitable, Wolley said.
According to the council’s building yellow placards indicate a building may have sustained moderate damage and access is restricted.
Meaning either some identified areas of the building pose a significant hazard and cannot be used, or that the public cannot enter except under supervision for a limited time on essential business. This could include emergency or assessment purposes, for example, or removing critical business records, valuables and property.
“We definitely can’t stay in the spare room for six months, we also have a dog with us. It is hard to find a rental, I assume many would be looking for one.
Wet carpet torn off the floors of Wolley's kitchen. Photo / Jamie Wolley
“Our whole house has been gutted. A group of friends and family took everything out of the house, the carpet and rubbish. Three skip bins full of stuff all out,” she said.
“Many people have been generous in lending and giving us things. But being in one room we are limited. At least our baby has somewhere to sleep - a cot and a car seat.”
Wolley’s sister started a Givealittle page two days ago to raise funds to support the couple’s financial recovery and the cost of new furniture, so far it has raised $7701.
For Wolley, the anxiety was not just of the present, but of the future of the property the couple owned, she said.
“There are a lot of unknowns for us. We have had no follow-up communication from the Council, what does being yellow stickered mean?
“We own the house so we are financially tied to it, we can’t just get up and walk away. There’s ongoing stress. We can’t sell it because who will buy a flooded house?
“We just have to fix it and hope it doesn’t happen again, but then, who’s to say it won’t?”
