One year on from Cyclone Gabrielle it's been slow progress for many of those with landslide damaged homes in beach communities Muriwai, Karekare and Piha. Photo / George Heard
One year on from Cyclone Gabrielle it's been slow progress for many of those with landslide damaged homes in beach communities Muriwai, Karekare and Piha. Photo / George Heard
February 13 is imprinted “like a photograph” in Seth Smith’s mind.
The storm claimed firefighters Dave van Zwanenberg and Craig Stevens’ lives when they were hit by a slip, while many families had lucky escapes as debris and mud smashed into scores of houses.
Rushing to help them he instead arrived to see volunteer firefighters desperately trying to save van Zwanenberg and Stevens’ lives as two months’ of rain fell on the town in 12 hours.
He then ran door-to-door evacuating homes and later joined much of the town sheltering at The Surf Club.
“I can remember the looks on the guys’ faces when I pulled up and they were standing there with their friends underneath the house,” he says about the frantic fire crews.
“I remember the interactions I had as I was running up people’s driveways and banging on doors.”
“I can remember the feeling in the surf club ... [the look in people’s] eyes - the shock and horror and fear and disbelief that they had.”
“It’s in my brain forever.”
A house hit by a landslide in Muriwai in February, 2023. Photo / RNZ / Tom Taylor
‘Anxiety and heartache’: Lives on hold
Smith now feels more connected to Anzac Day. He believes Muriwai residents experienced something like what the young men and women thrust into combat must feel.
And, like him, many residents cannot forget.
When locals gather in groups or at dinner parties, the talk inevitably turns to that night at least once during the conversation, Smith said.
Part of that is because so many lives are still on hold.
The Government and Auckland Council have pledged $800 million to get the most at-risk families out of harm’s way.
They expect to buy about 600 Auckland homes damaged by floods and landslips that are no longer considered safe to live in.
More than 50 of these have now been formally identified in Muriwai.
Smith knows at least one family who has already accepted their government buyout and gone on to purchase a new home.
But others are still waiting for their assessments, especially homeowners in Karekare and Piha.
Some have received assessments but still disputing them with council.
And others, like Smith - who live in properties where slips damaged their land but not their homes - are facing bills for new retaining walls in the tens-of-thousands of dollars, while being offered Earthquake Commission payouts for just a fraction of the cost.
Overall, the latest Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment data shows 432 New Zealand properties, including 264 in Auckland, are still red-stickered – meaning it’s too dangerous to go in them.
Nick and Corinne Hayward lost their home in Cyclone Gabrielle but are still waiting to hear from Auckland Council about a possible buyout. Photo / Supplied
Another 2283-odd properties, including 1075 in Auckland, are yellow-stickered with restricted access.
Unable to live in their houses, many homeowners are now stuck paying rent and mortgage repayments at the same time.
The Auckland Stickered Residents Group said in December the financial and emotional pressure, anxiety and heartache can be “unbearable”.
Marriages have broken up, children struggle to learn and parents work extra jobs to try and cover the extra costs, the group said.
It criticises Auckland Council’s slow pace of assessing homes for buyouts as well as a perceived “lack of transparency and communication”.
Clarity around decision-making is central to avoid future costs and legal challenges, it said.
Smith is also critical of the lack of a thorough clean-up of west coast towns, with fallen trees and debris still littered around.
He believes the debris should be cleaned up for more than just aesthetic purposes as the sight of it serves as a daily reminder of the storm that brings back trauma for some.
‘Not soon enough but as fast as possible’: Auckland Council
Mace Ward, deputy head of the Auckland Council team leading recovery efforts, said he understands it is “extremely challenging” for families whose lives are on hold.
“We know we could never be fast enough, but we really are throwing everything we can into this,” he said.
He said council teams have been assessing risks in Muriwai since last March.
But it was only after the Government gave his teams guidelines in May that they were able to begin developing the framework for the buyback scheme, he said.
Added to that has been the challenges posed by the steep, difficult landscapes, especially in Piha and Karekare.
Sometimes teams have had to rely on drones to do assessments in dangerous locations, Ward said.
Ongoing rockfalls and shifting land - in one case caused by work done by private citizens – have also sometimes forced assessors to return to areas and reassess them a second time, he said.
So far, more than 50 high-risk, “category 3″ homes have been identified, with a handful of owners already accepting buyouts.
A “small subset” of Muriwai properties are more complex to assess, however. Yet Ward said these should also be finished by the end of next month.
Piha and Karekare assessments are taking longer than Muriwai “because the risks are more challenging”, but these homeowners should also hear back from council by the end of this month, he said.
A huge slip at North Piha Beach triggered by Cyclone Gabrielle left Peter McNally's home badly damaged and red-stickered. Photo / Peter McNally
Overall, council teams have made 1500 desktop and 1100 on site assessments across Auckland so far.
About one-fifth of these homeowners have formally received the details of their assessments.
On February 13, he was in his house when a rock broke away from the cliff above and smashed into his back wall.
Pretty soon, McNally realised the situation was critical and as he scrambled to get out of his house with wife Leanne, a tree crashed through the kitchen window.
Tired of waiting, he’s bought a small house north of Auckland so he can get on with his life.
But his new property does not have the magic sunset views or ability to see the looks on the surfers’ faces in the breaks below that he used to enjoy from his Piha deck.
It’s left him grieving the loss of a way of life and an ultra tight community of friends.
Nick and Corinne Hayward's home after the slip. Photo / Supplied
Karekare resident Nick Hayward is another still waiting to hear from the council despite having what would seem an obviously dangerous home.
He, wife Corinne and children Onyx and Riggs were in their house when it was hit by a landslide, that sent the whole family tumbling 30m down the hill amid a “terrible sound of cracking and breaking”.
Miraculously the entire family survived despite the house caving in on them and flipping upside down.
Hayward said assessors told him informally his home would be a straightforward case for a buyout, yet more than one year on he hasn’t been made an offer.
It’s left the family living in a caravan and still unsure about their next steps.
“It’s human nature to feel there is something always on your shoulders… there’s always that underlying anxiety or stress,” Hayward said..
And the uncertainty distracts from more important things, like concentrating on helping their children.
