1News reporter Logan Church has been investigating the fallout from the recent Auckland floods, and what can be done to save parts of our biggest city.
"They shouldn't build houses like this."
We've heard that a lot over the past month.
In West Auckland, many are losing count of the times they have been flooded. They live in anxiety of heavy rain — that means the streams, usually meandering peacefully through the suburbs, turn into raging rivers.
Many end up looking like Huka Falls. And homes adjacent have no chance.
Bex Hurley is one such resident. Her family home on Border Rd, Henderson, often resembles an island.
That was the case in the January 27 flood. And the following week.
She text me just after 9pm on February 13.
"Three times in two weeks 🙁."
Her family has taken every flood mitigation measure possible. The house is raised off the ground. Her husband even built an "escape gate" halfway up the property.
Even that was impossible to escape through.
"My husband had to break down the palings in the back fence so we could climb out," Hurley told 1News.
Everyone 1News spoke to, from residents repeatedly hit, to Government ministers, agree managed retreat needs to be on the table.
That could range from buying out properties outright, moving houses away from danger areas, or raising them off the ground.
But all of that would cost a lot of money.
"There are lots of ways we can do this, but we have to treat people consistently around the country," newly appointed Cyclone Recovery Minister Grant Robertson said.
It's an issue I've investigated before, following the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake, with properties red-stickered underneath an unstable cliff.
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown spoke to us as he toured Waimoko Glen, a Swanson street featured earlier this week on 1News.
"Before you think about managed retreat you have to exhaust engineering options," he told flooded residents.
"We've just had floods that show the city is not geared up to cope with the floods it has had."
He said his first focus was to "fully understand" what had happened.
"If it's going to become a [thing that] happens again, what can we do in the catchment," he said.
"If there isn't, then you have got to consider these other things."
But for the flood-hit residents, time wasn't just running out — they needed some certainty now.
"I don't want this to happen to anybody else," Hurley said.
"It's quite upsetting because you feel you are tricked into it because you think if the council gives consent to build on a piece of land, you'll think that the land is safe."
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