[ad_1]
Kimberlee and Gary Whitehead at his home in the Pupuke Valley in the far north, while last week’s flood disappears.
Photo: RNZ/PETER DE GRAF
Every time it rains, fear gnaw at Gary Whitehead’s gut.
He and his wife Kimberlee Whitehead live in the Valley of Pupuke in the far north, north of Kāeo, where they are confronted by increasingly serious and regular floods.
He said the floods were affecting his mental health and literally kept him awake at night.
“I don’t sleep when it rains. Just because, what if I fall asleep and the water passes the house? I can’t leave. It’s just scary,” he said.
Kimberlee said the floods used to dusk.
“We’ll be out there every night, checking the water levels … We have to decide what stage we move the vehicles to the roadside, where they will be safe. I went to the fully dressed bed, so
Whiteheads bought the house in 2013.
The district council of the far north gave consent to the subdivision in 1995 and when a house was transferred to Earth a year later, they imagined that it should be safe.
They were also sure that Kāeo Records of 2007 reached the floor boards, but did not enter the house.
This turned out to be false, with the water actually rising to the window sills – a depth of almost a meter inside the house.
Kimberlee WhiteHead shows the flood level of February 2018. Kimberlee Whitehead shows the flood level of February 2018.
Photo: RNZ / PETER DE GRAF
Kimberlee said her first year in Pupuke Valley was “very dry.”
“But in our second year here, we started to be flooded several times every winter. They didn’t come so close to the house at that stage, so we were how, ok, that’s exactly what we can expect … and then they started to approach and closer to the house.”
The first serious flood in 2014 submerged storage containers in the backyard and destroyed about $ 100,000 in engineering equipment.
In subsequent floods, rainwater leaves the road washing the garage so they could not move their cars to higher land.
Kimberlee said he had lost five vehicles and “numerous” flood pigs and chickens, which often climbed to the shoulder height outside the house.
They didn’t keep more animals because it was very traumatic, she said.
In the worst flood so far, in February 2018, the water has emerged from the floor boards and Gary had to swim through the waters of the flood to rescue their pigs.
When they failed a civil defense response, they called the Kāeo Firefighters Brigade to get help.
“The Fire Department was very good, they helped us create everything at home, raised all the furniture and things. But they had to leave, so we were left to sit by the road until the water level fell,” said Gary.
The floods ongoing and years of fighting the counsel left the couple feeling overwhelmed and anxious.
Floods in the Pupuke Valley, north of Kāeo, in 2018.
Photo: RNZ / PETER DE GRAF
Both sought help from mental health services and were diagnosed with PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder).
“It’s the emotional toll,” said Kimberlee.
“Every time it rains, it’s really hard not to panic, not to stress,” she said.
After so many floods, insurance would no longer pay, and the property would be virtually impossible to sell.
However, a government purchase scheme revealed last year offered hope of a way out.
“We thought we would finally get some help,” Gary said.
Under the future of the severely affected lands scheme, or fosal to the short central government and any advice that signed would divide the purchase costs of damaged properties on the 2023 anniversary weekend and Gabrielle cyclone.
To qualify for a purchase, the properties also had to pose “a continuous and intolerable risk to life” without mitigating this danger.
Whiteheads said they didn’t want to leave the valley, but if they were offered a purchase, they would have to accept it.
The district council of the far north expected that up to 21 properties could be eligible at a potential cost of just under $ 6 million.
However, the manager of the Planning and Policies Group, Roger Ackers, said at the end that no one met the criteria for a purchase.
He said residents and landowners potentially affected were interviewed, but only one property – the Whiteheads’ – was found to require an engineering evaluation.
A flooded risk assessment report by the Tonkin Taylor engineering company found that its properties were not significantly affected by the northern island’s climatic events and were therefore not eligible for a purchase under the Fosal program, he said.
This discovery was contested by Whiteheads, who said the water did not enter the house during the Gabrielle cyclone – but several batteries sank during the three days when his property was under the water.
They also pointed to the discovery of engineers who represented “an intolerable risk” for life.
Since then, the couple had been advised by a mental health advisor to “just leave” the property.
However, with Gary aged 58 and unable to work due to an injury, and Kimberlee working half a time in his own business, giving up everything they had worked and starting over was not an option.
In addition, Kimberlee said he loved the valley and made many friends in the area.
“It would be hard to get away from it. We just want to be safe. Our house is safe. We want to know that we can leave for a weekend and we will not have a sudden flood and the house will be damaged.”
Whitehead property flooded once again in the last Friday rain, but the water did not enter the house.
The Fosal scheme was open to advice in areas affected by the “North Island Climate Events” of 2023.
Those who opted to include the Auckland Council, Far North, the District Councils of Central Hawke’s Bay, Gisborne and Master.
In other places in Northland, the district councils of Whangārei and Kaipara chose to leave, saying they did not believe that no property in their districts was eligible.
SUBSCRIBE IN NGā Pytopito Kōrero, A daily bulletin curated by our editors and delivers directly to your inbox every day of the week.
[ad_2]
Source link
