By Grace Tinetali-Fiavaai of RNZ

Two and a half years have passed since the Auckland Anniversary floods which claimed four lives and impacted thousands more.

Much progress has been made to recover from the events of that fateful weekend in January 2023 but many families are still struggling.

On Hinau Rd in Māngere, close to the Te Ararata Stream, two Tongan residents have faced a difficult choice.

Should they sell or keep their homes?

Tears stream down Toekava Fungavaka’s face as she explains the timeframe to decide whether to opt in or out of a voluntary buy-out support scheme.

The one-off joint initiative by the Auckland Council and New Zealand Government is for owners of residential properties with a category three rating.

The rating means the council has assessed a property and declared it presents an intolerable risk to life from land instability or flooding and there are no feasible mitigation solutions.

Once the council confirms a property has been rated category three the owners have three months to decide if they want to opt in to the buy-out scheme.

Fungavaka says her family have lived on Hinau Rd for more than a decade.

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Toekava Fungavaka disagrees with the council's rating, citing previous renovations and a low-medium flood risk assessment. Photo / RNZ

When she spoke to RNZ Pacific, they had until the following week to make a final decision, but she said their minds were already made up and they will not be participating in the scheme.

Toekava Fungavaka said she disagrees with the council’s rating of her property.

“I think it’s more frustration with the council, just given that they had approved the building consent after the flood, so we had proceeded with the full renovations and everything just to be told that we’re a category three,” Fungavaka said.

“And if they were to buy us out, it would be at the value that it was at the date of the flood.”

According to the scheme’s ‘home owner handbook’ the buyout price will be the “reference valuation” less all insurance and earthquake commission (EQC) proceeds, and less the specified homeowner contribution.

It provides an example:

“Sally lived in her West Auckland home which Auckland Council has assessed as category three because of land instability from the severe weather events, which cannot feasibly be mitigated.

“Auckland Council’s valuer has assessed its market value as $1.6m as at January 26, 2023.

“Sally has received an EQC payout of $300,000 and private insurance of $500,000. She spent $20,000 on repairs. Auckland Council will pay $740,000. Being the $1.6m valuation, less EQC payout of $300,000, less unspent insurance payout of $480,000 less the homeowner contribution of $80,000 (being 5% of $1.6m).”

But all the figures in the world will not console Fungavaka and her family.

She said she felt they were at a loss because they had invested so much money into renovations.

“It’s just traumatising ... frustrated.

“We’ve been categorised as category three, which I don’t agree with, because we’ve done the resource consent,” Fungavaka said.

“We’ve done everything prior to the building consent; we’ve even had a flood risk assessment done prior to this, which was low-medium risk.

“So how does that report differ from what they’ve provided us with? Yeah, just feels like we’ve been cornered and just given no choice.”

Daisy Taufoou's family decided to sell after 40 years, feeling displaced and frustrated with council communications. Photo / Marika Khabazi via RNZ

Fungavaka and her fellow residents have also been comparing the capital value (CV) of their properties and they are questioning the disparity between valuations of around $400,000 for some of their homes and $900,000 for two Kāinga Ora properties in the same area.

“I feel for the residents on the street, you know, especially with the CVs that have just come out.

“If you look at it, it’s only the property owners on the street where the valuation or their CVs have dropped, and it’s all sitting at 400k but if you look at our neighbours, we’ve got Kainga Ora houses right next door, and their CV is sitting at what - $980,000.

“That’s just for the two Kainga Ora houses, but the rest of the properties on the street, their values have dropped, which I don’t understand.”

Toekava Fungavaka said they have asked Auckland Council, but it is yet to come back to them with an answer.

However, since the floods more than two years ago, Fungavaka said she has seen a significant change with the new Te Ararata stream projects, which include regular cleaning checks.

“The Te Ara Rata project, that’s really helped. They’ve had - been floods since the Auckland anniversary, and we haven’t been affected since.”

The Te Ararata Creek Flood Resilience Project commenced in April 2025 and is scheduled to finish by mid-2026.

It aims to reduce potential flood levels for over 250 properties in the area and make the stormwater network more resilient to future storm events.

Another affected street is Pito Place in the floodplain of Te Ararata Creek, Māngere.

However, for Daisy Taufoou and her family, “D-Day” has passed.

In March, they were given three months to make a decision whether to be part of the Government buyout, and then they’ve got until the end of the year to sign a sale and purchase agreement.

This choice wasn’t taken lightly, as they’ve lived there for more than 40 years, but they felt they had no other option.

Even after deciding to sell, questions linger in Daisy Taufoou’s mind.

“I think we’ve had numerous conversations with the council, and they’re saying, ‘Well, what do you want us to say? What do you want us to do?’ But it’s like, you’ve got to give us the answers that we’re looking for,” she said.

“What else are people doing because we don’t want to just uproot our families? Where can we go? It’s kind of feeling a little bit displaced as well ... in the property climate. It’s not easy for us to just uproot and and leave the area.”

She vividly remembers evacuating her elderly parents through waters about shoulder-high, but the “most important thing” was no lives were lost.

“We want to be able to trust in the process and trust and have the confidence in our government decision-making, but it just continues to let us down.”

She said official communications needed more consistency.

“The evacuation system, let us down in the evening – even today, when we’re getting emergency and civil defence and it’s coming later, it’s coming earlier.

“It’s triggering.

“As people who’ve have had lived experience we’ve come up with our own plan and what to look out for with the support of the community, and they’ve really helped us through this time as well.”

Nick Vigar, Auckland Council’s healthy waters head of planning, states that more effort has been made to manage the situation.

“We’ve also, obviously all around the region, had hundreds of people bought out as cat threes under the voluntary buyout process,” he said.

“In most of those situations, there hasn’t been the extra capital works, the bridge upgrades and that sort of thing that we’re doing in Māngere, but the situation has been the same, effectively.”

He also said that there are others out there who are worse off – without the buyout option.

“There are also people right around the region who, unfortunately, would love to have that decision, but don’t, and didn’t get offered a voluntary buyout because they didn’t meet the definition of risk to life.

“So there’s a bunch of people there who are left with still high levels of risk, potentially uninsurable properties, and... potentially have no way out of that.”

As for the decisions about what the council will do with the land and houses, he said no decisions have been made.

“There is a policy directing how we make decisions about storm-affected land, and we are early on in this programme as we are still working through buy-outs. But with 1200 buy-outs on the list, it will take some time to work through each property based on its unique circumstances.

“While we haven’t made any decisions, we expect most of the properties will be used for flood resilience projects, other public uses, or kept as high-hazard land with no use.

“We’ve highlighted with residents that this is a high-risk street, and because of that is unlikely to be used for residential use.”

Penny Simmonds, Minister for the Environment said the Government has “taken decisive action” to support Auckland Council to move faster on essential flood protection works in high-risk areas like Hinau Rd.

Property values vary widely, with some homes valued at $400,000 and others at $980,000. Photo / Phil Smith

“Through an order in the council, we’ve enabled Auckland Council to bypass delays in the consenting process so this work can begin promptly. These efforts are about protecting lives, reducing future risks, and supporting long-term recovery for communities.

“The Government’s approach is clear – the recovery must be led locally, with strong support from central Government.

“We know these are difficult decisions, especially for homeowners who’ve invested in their properties. Property valuation and relocation matters are led by Auckland Council and Kāinga Ora, and I encourage residents to stay engaged in those processes to ensure their voices are heard.”

-RNZ