
While the family move from rental to rental, they are stuck paying a mortgage on a house they are not sure they will ever be able to call home again.
Surrey St homeowner Brianna Soper, her partner and 4-year-old son were in Christchurch last October when a sewer pipe in their street shot dirty water out "like a geyser".
Floodwaters rushed down their driveway, flooding their home and ruining 90% of their belongings.
What had not been soaked with sewer water was soon ruined when the water started to evaporate, contaminating the rest of their belongings.
"The home has been untouched since the insurance company came in and ripped everything out, and then everything’s come to a halt while they decide what they will and won’t pay," she said.
Immediately after their home was flooded, the family moved into Mrs Soper’s friend’s home.
They were living in one bedroom while they searched for a rental property to move into.
They then moved into a rental in Milton, but with that home being sold they recently found a new property in Dunedin.
For some people, the floods were just a memory, but for them it was just the beginning.
"Everybody’s been messaging like ‘oh, are you back in your house yet?’, but we don’t even know if it’s going to be paid out yet.
"The entire situation has created a lot of anxiety.
"We can’t plan anything — we can’t even pick a school for our son who starts school in August, because we don’t know where we will be."
She and her partner became first-time homeowners when they got the keys to their Surrey St home in 2019 when she was pregnant with their son.
When buying, they were told by the previous owners and the real estate agent that while the home had flooded in 2015, council work on the road would ensure it did not happen again.
The future was uncertain, but one thing she was sure of was if they wanted to live there again, the house would have to be at least a metre higher.
"Last we heard, insurance wouldn’t pay to raise the house to replace the piles, or bring it up to street level to make it consentable."
She believed raising the foundations could cost $200,000.
"We don’t have 200 grand ... in the long term, it may be cheaper to just bowl the home."
Until their insurance company made a decision on a payout on their home, their lives would remain in "limbo", Mrs Soper said.
"We live in hope ... we try to save as much money as we can, pick up extra shifts at work to try to make sure we’ve got something put away."
She used to be very "house proud" and was looking forward to the day they could start to plan their future.
"My poor boy, he’s only 4 and we had to chuck out all his toys.
"I was like, ‘mate, I’ve had to throw out all your toys’, and he asked me whether Santa would bring home new toys ... I told him that Santa would do his very best."
On top of losing their home, the family had to give up their pets for a short time.
Unfortunately, their cat, unable to settle in, ran away and was hit by a car.
"It’s been a bit of a series of unfortunate events ... but the insurance has been really good and easy to communicate with.
"I suppose it’s not the end, it’s the beginning of something different."
A Dunedin City Council spokesman said as of November 30, $2.25 million had gone towards remedial works following the October flooding.
"Further costs are still to come, as our transport, property, Three Waters and parks and recreation teams continue to work with contractors on a range of solutions for affected sites, some of which are yet to be put out for tender."
Decisions on options for cost recovery and funding for flooding and damage — including with their insurers, the National Emergency Management Agency, and NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi — were continuing.
Final figures would be confirmed, but "this would take some time yet", he said.