Glenn Whittington points to water line during flooding. Photo: RNZ / Luka Forman
A West Auckland couple say they are sick of waiting to find out the fate of their flood-damaged home, while several of their neighbours have been given answers.
More than 1800 homes are yet to be given a classification which will determine whether they can be saved by flood mitigation work, or if they need to be bought out.
Glenn Whittington is sure that his partner's home should be in category 3, meaning a full buyout, after it was badly damaged in the Auckland Anniversary Weekend floods.
It sits on the banks of two rivers in the West Auckland suburb of Swanson, and has flooded in the past.
But as the months have passed since the storm and neighbours around the property have been put into category 3, Whittington and his partner are still waiting.
"There is a lot of uncertainty, and just their incompetence of sorting the whole problem out. They seem to be very mish-mash about this house here and that house there."
In the meantime, Whittington's partner was living in the garage at his place, while still paying the mortgage on her property.
A Kāinga Ora property next door was demolished due to flood damage, so Whittington could not understand what the holdup was with his partner's property.
The council should be more consistent with how they categorised properties in the same area, he said.
"Hit on all the houses that are category 3 at that bottleneck, and let them all know. Not one here and the others wait for four to six weeks while they panic. There's a lot of stress for a lot of people."
A Kāinga Ora property next door which was demolished due to flood damage. Photo: RNZ / Luka Forman
Auckland Council labelled 214 properties category 3, meaning they were uninhabitable and would be bought out. Twenty-one properties were labelled category 2, meaning they needed flood-mitigation work, and 494 were put in category 1, meaning residents could keep living in them.
That left 1871 homes still in need of a classification.
Auckland Council said some categorisations were taking longer as it explored various ways to save properties.
But Whittington said it was clear that his partner's home was a write-off, and he would be disappointed if it was put into category 2.
"That'd be a serious kick in the guts, you know? But my partner won't move back here - it's flooded twice, not once."
Just down the road, Joe Young's house had recently been labelled category 3, but said the process had been stressful.
"Just to hear something was a relief. We'd been on edge thinking we were actually gonna get category 2, and go through the whole next year of turmoil."
Despite the delay, Young was confident that the council would get the categories right.
"However upside down the system is, however it works... the right properties that need it will get it, I just don't know what order and when."
Glenn Whittington stands outside his partner's flood-damaged property. Photo: RNZ / Luka Forman
Auckland Council deputy recovery group manager Mace Ward said in a statement Whittington's partner's house was at the review stage, meaning a category was imminent.
Ward said he knew it was an extremely challenging time for families with their life on hold, but the work the council was doing was about protecting lives in future weather events, and doing so required careful analysis to get it right.
It was a tough line to walk between speed and accuracy, he said.
