Homes, like this one in Urlich Drive, have been vandalised since the occupants were forced to abandon them following flooding at the start of 2023. Photo: RNZ/Nick Monro
Aucklanders struggling with the stress and trauma of storm-wrecked homes are having to wait up to four weeks for counselling.
Some said they had hit rock bottom after learning they would not have certainty about a buyout until next year, while their vacant houses were being repeatedly looted and vandalised.
Along Candia Road in Swanson, houses that flooded in January sit vacant and vandalised.
Among them, the house Amrita Aujla owns - she's lost count of how many times it's been broken into, the light fittings and copper pipes stolen.
A vacant house in Candia Drive, Swanson. Photo: RNZ/Nick Monro
Houses in Candia Drive sit abandoned in November 2023 and have been subsequently vandalised since the floods at the start of 2023. Photo: RNZ/Nick Monro
She said it adds to the stress of being displaced - she's still paying a mortgage on the house she can't live in - but when she tried to access a counselling service for people in her position, the wait was too long.
"The wait was four weeks and three days and I still have to work, I can't go during the week. The first time I did it there was a three week wait, I'm like what? I tried multiple times I just gave up in the end."
Aujla has been advised in a letter from Auckland Council she will not find out until late March if her house is eligible for a buyout - and that more assessments are needed.
"I'm extremely disappointed because I thought this black cloud that I've been having for one year, with waiting patiently, is still going to carry on in the new year and we're still broken as, traumatised already - multiple times."
Auckland Council's recovery office said it is aware of the unacceptable waiting list and more money is being given to counselling services as Christmas approaches.
The funding is from Te Whatu Ora and administered by the recovery office, whose community and social recovery lead Linda Greenalgh said waiting lists had been too long.
"We were starting to hear that their waiting lists were getting long, that they were running out of the money that the organisations got from government to offer these services.
"So we've really quickly put in place some contracts to make sure that we've got the right services in place for over the Christmas period."
Greenalgh said many people are struggling financially as they wait to hear if their homes will be bought out.
"We're hearing that the prolonged uncertainty that people are facing is having an impact on them. We've got people who are out of their homes and have been for an extended period. Some of them don't know whether or if they're going to be able to move back to those homes."
The recovery office will have another funding round early next year to bring on more mental health services.
Swanson resident Annabel said she and her husband have both struggled with the trauma of the January flooding, after the tiny home they were living in floated down the road.
Annabel's tiny home was lifted off its footings by floodwaters in Candia Road, on 27 January. Photo: Supplied
They have both accessed mental health support - and it helped.
"It's so needed. A lot of people that have gone through this. Yes it's been 10 or so months now, but many people are still traumatised," Annabel said.
"I know from personal experience after the first one, any time it rained heavily I didn't sleep."
Annabel said the house on their property - which they were not living in when the Auckland Anniversary floods hitbecause it had been damaged in previous flooding - is a wreck, and the city council had just told them it will be next March or June before they know if they're getting a buyout.
"We are desperately seeking category three because we do not want to go back to our property and we will not go back to our property regardless of what happens," she said.
"We're not going to put our daughter's life in danger like that when we've seen what the potential outcome could be."
The house was looted the night after the January flooding, and had been vandalised 10 times since.
"They smashed all the windows at the front of the house. They've broken in countless times," Annabel said.
"That's I think what is getting people so upset with how long it's taking. Just when you think that it can't get any worse, then you get people coming and stealing what little you have left."
Aucklanders whose homes were damaged by the floods and slips from the anniversary weekend storms have faced trauma on several fronts both on the day and during the recovery, many of them say. Photo: Supplied/ John Stephens
Meanwhile, to ease the burden a little the recovery office is offering storm-affected whānau vouchers ahead of Christmas.
Greenalgh said the Red Cross, through its community relief fund, had given the recovery office money to distribute - as vouchers.
"It's been the best part of their job so far, being able to make those calls to the families they are working with to let them know this is on the way. The response has been pretty incredible, people have really appreciated it."
A Muriwai resident, who wanted to remain anonymous, said he had been offered $1000 in vouchers of his choosing.
"It's a relief to know that something's coming, there's a bit of help."
He was among 47 residents in the coastal community who had received confirmation from Auckland Council that their houses - his is at risk due to a slip - are eligible for a buyout.
Some had received their valuation and offer documents.
"It'll be a quiet Christmas, [I'll] probably go down visit the old home, start cleaning up. It's going to be a sad time I guess but I feel we're out of the mist now we've got some certainty about what's happening."
Damage to Muriwai properties in the wake of the Auckland Anniversary weekend floods. Photo: RNZ / Nick Monro