Flood family struggle to find home

The family of nine are crammed into the one-bedroom flat of Joseph Cumming's mother. Photo / Otago Daily Times

With one of her seven children due to have brain surgery next week, the last thing Natasha Williams needs to worry about this week is looking for somewhere to live.

After last week's deluge in Dunedin, Ms Williams, 26, her partner Joseph Cumming, 27, and their family had to abandon their flooded Bay View Rd rental property and move in with Mr Cumming's mother at her one-bedroom flat in Macandrew Bay.

Half a metre of floodwaters came up through their South Dunedin floorboards, leaving the property "uninhabitable", Ms Williams said.

"There's 10 of us all crammed into a one-bedroom house at the moment.
"The kids love it. It's like an all-day slumber party for them.

"But for me, it's very stressful - very overwhelming.

"I sometimes don't know where I am at the end of the day. I sit there thinking did this really just happen? Am I really in this position?"

The family were all sleeping in the lounge on mattresses and everyone had to queue for the toilet or the bath, which were in the one room.

While she was grateful for her mother-in-law's support, the situation was not ideal, she said.

"The kids need their space, we need our space. It's all too close for comfort."

As if that was not stressful enough, one of their 1-year-old triplets, Teina, was born with a brain bleed and has ongoing complications caused by hydrocephalus - excessive accumulation of fluid on the brain - and is to undergo her 28th surgery next week. "This [being forced from their home] is the last thing we need."

Ms Williams said she was now at her wit's end trying to find another flat.

Finding one that meets all of the family's specifications was proving extremely difficult.

"There are no four-bedroom rental properties available in our price range.

"Even if we can get a three-bedroom house in the short-term, we [my partner and I] can sleep in the lounge, because the children come first."

The house also had to be single-storeyed and on a flat section because Teina would probably be in a wheelchair in the coming years.

"A fire would also be nice to keep warm, but I can't be too picky."

Ms Williams said the family was struggling financially, and could only afford to pay about $330 a week in rent.

"My partner and I are on the unemployment benefit because of Teina.

"She's in and out of hospital. She's been in Starship, she's been in Christchurch, she's been all over the place - and while one of us is with her, someone else needs to stay home and look after the other kids.

"At the moment, it is a case of taking each day as it comes," she said.

Three of the children attend Bathgate Park School, and principal Whetu Cormick said the family was just one of about a dozen in his school community similarly affected by the floods.

"We've got families in our school community in dire need of help.

"The big problem is not food or money. It's housing. There's no housing available."

He said two families had lost everything and had nowhere to go, and some families had moved into hotels because of the lack of housing.

Mr Cormick was also concerned some families were living in wet houses and many were beginning to hit rock bottom psychologically.