Andrew Marshall's house in Swanson has been red-stickered after the Auckland Anniversary floods in 2023, but looters are taking advantage of the family's absence. Photo: RNZ / Finn Blackwell
A resident on a flood-stricken West Auckland street says looters have been a constant issue since last year's anniversary weekend floods.
This Saturday marks one year since the region was hit by catastrophic floods, displacing hundreds and leaving four dead.
West Auckland was just one area severely hit by the floods.
More than 2000 slips were reported across the Auckland Transport network.
By January this year, over 50 percent of transport recovery projects have been completed, with works set to continue for another 18 months to two years.
Third parties raised $8.4 million for social and well-being recovery support funding.
In the suburb of Swanson, Amrita Aujla had been hit by flooding in August 2021, losing everything in her garage.
"After that, the anxiety kicks in all the time when it's raining," she said.
Aujla and her family had set up cameras around their house after the 2021 floods.
On 27 January 2023, she watched from work as the flood waters rose.
"By the time I got there, I had lost access to the house," Aujla said.
Getting into her house meant crossing a bridge, which had become inaccessible due to flooding, she said.
Aujla parked on the other side of the bridge and moved in, but was unable to find her husband.
"That 20 minutes was the worst of my life, I couldn't see him, he couldn't see me,"
"By the time the cops came and went inside they found no one there, it was pretty much we were then looking for a dead body."
But Aujla's husband was not dead, he had instead made his way out of the house and climbed a tree to get to a neighbouring property, escaping the water.
West Auckland residents with uninhabitable homes after the floods say they keep getting targeted by looters. Photo: RNZ/Nick Monro
Aujla's house had been yellow stickered.
She described it as living in limbo land.
To make matters worse, Aujla said her house had been looted four times.
"Every time we get looted they take something from our house, even if there's nothing," she said.
"Every time we call insurance for another claim, they ask us to do another excess because our insurance hasn't been settled either."
Aujla said each time her house was looted, she paid $1000 in excess.
"Maybe I should just leave the doors open and let them do whatever they want," she said.
"There's nothing in there."
Aujla had since received a category three listing, meaning she was now eligible for a property buy-out and could start planning for the future.
Police said there had been 15 reports of burglary on the street over the past 12 months.
'Anything that wasn't taken by the flood was taken by the looters'
Andrew Marshall says the past 12 months had been very difficult for him. Photo: RNZ / Finn Blackwell
On the same street, resident Andrew Marshall's property had also just been given a category three listing.
The looters had already been through his house when he came back after the floods, Marshall said.
"Right from when we came back after that first night, there had been things taken," he said.
"That was probably what took me right to the limit of my mental health ... I'd have a time window through the day, knowing that whatever family heirlooms or any items of material value I didn't take, there was a very good chance they wouldn't be there the following morning."
Marshall's home was also flooded in 2021, meaning he and his family had an evacuation plan when last year's floods came.
He had placed sensor alarms at different levels near the stream behind his house, which they used to their advantage.
"Having that audible alarm actually kicked us into action, and so we exercised that evacuation plan," Marshall said.
His wife and daughter left when the first alarm sounded, with Marshall climbing into a tiny home with their two dogs and floating out of the drive way.
He said the looters who struck his home were quite sophisticated.
"Anything that wasn't taken by the flood was taken by the looters, tools, my little dinghy out the back ... concrete mixer," he said.
"Through the house as well, they've got no respect for a red sticker, so they can go in there quite happily but you're not allowed to."
"The police said they're like rats, eventually they'll start taking windows, doors, and just strip the place."
Houses abandoned on a street in West Auckland, after the floods in early 2023, have been vandalised. Photo: RNZ/Nick Monro
Marshall said the past 12 months had been very difficult.
"I got hit pretty hard," he said.
"Then it was a question of 'okay, how do I stay functional as a father, husband, with my professional work'."
Marshall said he had counselling and stopped drinking to cope with the trauma of going through the floods.
"It's been very difficult, it's been stressful and challenging," he said.
Their category three listing meant Marshall could have certainty in a way forward.
"You need closure, it's been a nightmare since August 2021, so you need to put it to bed, you need to be able to close that chapter and then start again on a fresh sheet of paper."
Insurers say clear and consistent messages needed
Insurance Council chief executive Tim Grafton said it made sense for residents to retreat from life-threatening properties.
As of 1 December 2023, there were just over 8000 insurance claims outstanding from the floods. Claims worth $1.4 billion have been paid out.
Grafton said there needed to be careful reflection on how category three settlements have proceeded.
"At one level, very supportive of the settlement of people so that they can move on with their lives away from risks to their lives and where their property is clearly too high of a risk for insurance to underwrite," he said.
"But, we do need to have some very clear and consistent messages for the future; what is the appropriate level of buyout? Are insured and uninsured people treated the exactly same? What are the clear expectations of what people can receive if they are in that situation, and is that consistent across the country?"
Grafton said they wanted to see clarity and consistency in the approach for the future.
"More importantly, we need to start considering how we become a more resilient New Zealand," he said.
"We should not be consenting construction of property in areas that are of intolerable risk, we don't want to have what's happened in the past happen again in the future by just building in bad places."