After the flood, 10th Feb 2023. By Zai

 





 

We were in so much stress on the Friday of 10th February just after I came home from work. There was so much commotion and confusion since Bonnie, who is one of the residents in DOVEDALE, was knocking on people's houses  and telling us that Auckland council has yellow stickered our home and we could not stay there. We were so confused and could not make sense of it. Apparently, someone had called Auckland council and complained about the work being done in the houses after the flood two weeks before. So at 4:30 that day, Auckland council inspected the work and found out that the structure of the houses have been compromised. It has also resulted to a fire hazard scenario. We were in such a state of panic and tried options on where to go that evening. We ended up packing for a night's stay at Beth's house. We slept on the floor of her living room area. The following day was so stressful trying to get temporary accommodation. In the end, we stayed with Loretta Aunty and Trevor Uncle. To add to our stress, cyclone Gabrielle was bearing down on us. On the 13th and 14th were the worst of the cyclone. Fortunately it did not affect the place where we stayed. It wasn't as bad as we expected and spared our home this time around. We stayed with Loretta Aunty and Trevor Uncle for a week. On 16th Feb, we moved to an AirBNB apartment in the CBD area, close to the wharf. What a lovely place it is, we feel like we were in a hotel. The view is to die for and so close to our work place. For whatever had happened, this gave us an opportunity to stay and live in a lovely place. We enjoyed our 1 week here. It was like a holiday. 

But alas, we have to moved on again on 23rd Feb. We are still waiting for the help from the government. We have been stressed and still unsure where we will end up. Life is crazy at the moment. 


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