An elderly couple in Te Wairoa district in Hawke’s Bay has finally returned home 18 months after Cyclone Gabrielle buried their house in silt.
The couple is the first of many families to be returning home as a project led by Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa to repair at least 18 homes impacted by the Cyclone last year.
Rawinia and John Waihape have been living in their home for 53 years and are finally able to move back in and feel safe in their own home.
“It’s a lovely feeling being back home and it’s lovely to see our house all finished. We’re not fully back living in the house at the moment but we’re doing that very slowly,” Rawinia says.
The nanny and koro say seeing their mokopuna come back home is a sight they’ve waited for for 18 months.
Rawinia says it’s been tough not hosting their children in their own home but now they can.
“I can’t wait for my children to come home. When they did come home, they couldn’t stay with us because there was nowhere for them to sleep. So they had to go to other relations and stay. But they can’t wait to come home for another holiday,” she says.
The Waihape family has been living in their home in Te Wairoa for over five decades and, despite the cyclone that flooded the country last year, it’s not as if Gabrielle is the only cyclone they’ve seen.
John Waihape says Cyclone Bola was nothing compared to Gabrielle.
“Cyclone Bola wasn’t as bad as Gabrielle, Gabrielle was worse... It was just the silt and the mud. It was all in the house, it was all around the whole section. It was about a foot deep and that’s just outside the house,” he says.
The repairs of homes in the Te Wairoa district is being led by Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa, with 18 on its list.
Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa Trust chairman Leon Symes says he is pleased to see the repair of homes within the district.
“It’s heartening to witness the first whanau move back into their repaired home after 15 months of displacement. However, much more needs to be done to address the housing crisis in Wairoa, particularly in light of the hundreds still displaced due to Cyclone Gabrielle.”
Symes urges the government to take action and help whānau who are still displaced in the region.
“We need the government to support the work we are doing to try and provide warm, dry homes for our whanau in need. We have too many families who have been living in temporary housing or overcrowded housing because they have nowhere to go,” he says.
Rawinia and John Waihape say although they are happy to be home, they are also sad for those who are still waiting.
“I’m overwhelmed but in saying that I’m also guilty because I feel for the others that are not in their homes,” Rawinia says.
Housing is a persistent issue in the region but this whānau is happy to be home.