Residents group leader to the fore in volunteer effort

Norma Bott jokes that she “married into Milford” – and that happy event decades ago has proved a seriously good catch for the community.

The co-chair of the Milford Residents Association (MRA) spearheaded the area’s flood response, setting up a pop-up emergency centre and calling for donations for those in need.

She rallied around 100 volunteers to sort and distribute goods, first for a week at the Senior Citizens Hall and then for another week at the old Vegeland building at the bottom of East Coast Rd. A local landlord provided the vacant premises free of charge to use as a collection depot.

While Bott fronted the operation, long-time co-chair Debbie Dunsford put together helpful sheets of information. These were distributed when around 20 volunteers took bags of food and vouchers that others had packed to the worst-affected streets.

A social-media group was set up to connect those in need with those offering items.

“People want to help, they’re just not sure how,” said Bott. She said the response from the community had been overwhelming.

It included “a “band of Milford men and some Forrest Hill mums”. One woman turned up every day. Some brought along teenagers to help.

Businesses also came to the party, with Milford New World giving vouchers and Countdown also contributing. Cash donations from individuals were turned into Warehouse vouchers. Takapuna-based business Oceanbridge provided a truck to take surplus goods to another centre in South Auckland.

With the Senior Citizens Hall needed for regular classes and activities and the temporary depot now closed, Bott told the Observer: “I’ve got to go back to work.”

Bags that... Norma Bott, Milford Residents Association co-chair, marshalled food aid ready for delivery, including contributions from the community and Milford supermarkets

Stacking and sorting... Volunteers (from left) Dianne Rennie, John Drought and Jo MacKinnon at the old Vegeland building on East Coast Rd, which became a stopgap depot for household donations. Rennie lives in Nile Rd, where many residents suffered flood damage. “I’m okay, but along the road I’ve seen the carnage. What else can you do but get out and help?”

Trailer time... Terenzo Bozzone helps unload deliveries. The international athlete and local said “sad stories” abounded, but it was nice to see how many people had pitched in to help.

Clean-up help wanted

The Conservation Volunteers Group is organising a series of public Wairau Estuary litter clean-ups, starting on Saturday 25 February from 10am to 1pm. Future monthly clean-ups to be held on the last Saturdays of March, April and May will also include plant restoration. Volunteers are welcome and asked to register at cvnz.org.nz.

Cakestall kindness

Primary school children set up a cakestall on Manutara Ave, Forrest Hill, to raise funds for the Sunnynook Community Centre’s flood relief efforts. Five children from three families baked up a storm, raising more than $200. They hope to let locals know about another fundraiser down the track.

Slip closes road

The closing of Braemar Rd in Castor Bay to traffic travelling in both directions was forced by a slip from beneath a house, Auckland Transport says. “We removed debris and cleared half of the road but need to do some geotech investigations first to determine the size. We will not move the rest as it can compromise the stability of the land beneath the house,” a spokesman said. The westbound lane was still closed early this week.

Theft after flood

A 65-inch television was stolen from a Nile Rd, Milford home after it was flooded.

Boots on the ground... Defence Force musclepower rolled into Milford and Sunnynook after a few days. Ordinary Writer Irinieta Toduadua was among those stripping wet carpets from homes.

Pohutukawa pruning policy needs review – MP

Auckland Council pruning policies for pohutukawa need review, says North Shore MP Simon Watts.

Having visited coastal areas of his electorate plagued by land slips, he said half a dozen property owners had told him council had denied them permission to trim trees, which could grow weighty and become a clifftop liability. Just up the road from his own Belmont home – flooded twice in the deluges – the Westwell public stairs to the beach had collapsed.

Kennedy Park’s stairs were also lost along a coastline heavy with pohutukawa.

“Every slip on the beach seems to have a pohutukawa on top of it,” he noted.

Beach events canned

This week’s Takapuna Beach Series event was cancelled due to high winds and the risk posed by submerged debris.

The 7 February event was earlier cancelled in the wake of floods.

Organisers said events can proceed despite Safeswim red settings, which are based on modelling, but only after plans are run by Auckland Council’s health and safety team as well as its Safeswim arm.

The 7 February event was postponed on finding that officials had also done manual testing that showed contamination.

Costly sequel of car lost in flood leaves a bitter taste

Last week, I finally tracked down my car that was towed from Sunnybrae Rd after I abandoned it in floodwaters on 27 January (as recounted in the Rangitoto Observer of 3 February).

After countless calls to Auckland Transport and then multiple towing companies around Glenfield, I discovered it had been taken to a yard in Ellice Rd.

It turns out that I unknowingly had been charged $35 a day for its storage on top of a towing fee.

The tow company had sent a letter to my old address. I had recently moved and hadn’t changed my details with the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA).

I ended up having to pay more than $1000 to recover my write-off from the yard. Wreckers paid me $600 for it, leaving me $400 out of pocket.

I only had insurance for third-party damage, fire and theft.

I can understand the towing company has set pricing and only had my old address, but believe it could have shown some sympathy fin the circumstances by offering a discount.

If I knowingly parked in a no-parking zone and had to pay that amount it would be easier to swallow.

But this left a sour taste in my mouth. It doesn’t feel right that a company would charge people for storing towed cars that were abandoned due to a natural disaster. Or that they would attempt to contact the owners via mail at a time when so many people have been displaced from their homes.

Something’s not right in the process, whether on the part of the towing companies, the police who authorised the tow, or NZTA, which only gives addresses to the tow companies when they also have phone numbers on record.

I’ve made a claim to Auckland Council’s flood relief fund.

In the meantime, any readers who have similar stories are asked to contact the Observer, so we can try to get a picture of how widespread this issue was.

Has our flood nightmare proved a profitable windfall for the towing industry? Please email news@devonportflagstaff.co.nz or ring 021 201 7688.

Nile Rd: Sewage smells and rescue by paddleboard

At her first viewing for a new flat, flood victim Liv Tomsen found she was one of around 40 other people in line desperate for accommodation.

Along with her five flatmates she has had to vacate the flood-damaged Milford home they rented. Water ran through the property, ruining furniture and personal items.

“We aren’t insured. We never thought we would have to be because we live in such a safe area,” the 21-year-old said.

Two fridges, laundry appliances and couches were all write-offs. So too, four cars towed away from their Nile Rd driveway.

Tronsen says but for the quick actions of the one flatmate who was at home and managed to cart televisions and other items upstairs, the flatmates would have been even worse off.

On the weekend the Observer spoke to the flatmates, they were dumping the last of their sodden and stinky belongings onto the footpath for rubbish collection.

Inside, where water reached hip height, floorboards had lifted. In the backyard, the fence lay flattened.

Luckily, the flatmates have family homes to return to while on the hunt for a new flat, after giving notice to the landlord that the place was uninhabitable. “It doesn’t even smell wet, it smells like sewage,” said Tomsen.

She was heading home when the flooding reached its height and got stuck by rising waters at the top of the street. “You could see the current. It was crazy. People were being swept off their feet.”

Eventually her flatmate waded up to get her. They went to help a 90-year-old neighbour who lost everything in his single-storey home.

The flatmates were able to camp upstairs initially, but downstairs they later found faeces in water in a bedroom. The clean-up took a physical toll, with several of them feeling sick. Anthony Jones-Lewis said they developed a rash on their stomachs and chests.

A yellow-stickered two-storey home further down Nile Rd stands empty now, but during the floods its occupants opened the doors to neighbours to let them shelter upstairs.

Just a short walk up the road, Su-Yin Ingle’s family home suffered some flooding and a ruined car that she is trying to replace, but she said others were worse off

The mother of two – who got her young children into wetsuits and lifejackets to evacuate them on a paddleboard – said: “We were lucky. There are houses completely gone.”

Friends took the family in. Since returning for the clean-up she has met more people in the community which she said was an upside of the event. The need for people, especially the elderly, to not feel isolated was more important than ever, she said, as volunteers went door to door checking on needs. “When the community rallies, it’s nice.”

But what stuck with her most was the shock of what they had all experienced. “People walking around and just looking expressionless.”

Devonport-Takapuna Local Board chair Toni van Tonder said the extent of damage was eye-opening, with many homes out of sight down long driveways. With North Shore ward councillor Richard Hills she spent time going door to door to check on welfare needs.

Board member Peter Allen, who was also out and about in Milford, said in Trevaughn Glade alone, of 25 units, only five had people in them as of last week.