Impacted customers can call or email the organisation
With the floodwater receding, Kāinga Ora - Homes and Communities said it was preparing to repair its flood-damaged Auckland houses ASAP to enable customers to quickly and safely return to their houses.
“Our immediate focus after the floods was checking on the safety and wellbeing of our customers and connecting them with the right agencies to help them with their basic needs,’’ said Caroline Butterworth, deputy CEO for Auckland and Northland.
Butterworth said Kāinga Ora has been working alongside Auckland Emergency Management and the Ministry of Social Development to help flood-hit customers.
“We’ve been in touch with every family that we’re aware of that has been severely impacted,” she said. “If there’s anyone we have missed, we would like them to either call us on 0800 801-601 or email [email protected].
“We have also contacted Auckland community leaders and support services to outline what help is available to flood-affected people [and] encourage them to pass on referrals from our customers. We are here to help and strongly encourage our customers to make contact.’’
Around 505 properties have been damaged by the floods or suffered associated safety issues, but the figure may rise as assessments are still being done, Butterworth said.
At the height of the floods, around 190 households were displaced but some have since returned to their property.
“Now that we’re one week on from the floods and we’re moving from the emergency response phase into the recovery phase, our focus has turned to how we get our flood-damaged houses repaired as quickly as possible so that customers can return to their homes,” Butterworth said. “However, the volume of homes needing repairs means it is going to take time. We’ll be prioritising repairs that can enable people to quickly and safely move back into their homes.’’
Butterworth said that although the organisation has a small number of vacant homes in Auckland, these homes are not immediately available to help provide housing to flood-affected customers.
“These homes are vacant because they don’t yet have some of the essential things needed for a new whānau to move in,” Butterworth said. “In many cases, they are not connected to power or may need repairs in essential areas such as the kitchen or bathrooms.
“We are working hard to assess our vacant homes to understand the extent of damage they may have as a result of the floods and what work needs to happen to get them ready for a new whānau. We hope to have a better understanding of the homes we have available to permanently rehouse some of our affected customers within the next two weeks.
“We will rehouse every one of our customers who were affected by the floods. However, this will take some time as we work through the extent of damage to our homes and find suitable homes in the right locations for these customers.’’
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