The waters have receded from January’s Auckland Anniversary Weekend floods, but the recovery continues. PSA member Kath Ashley’s ongoing work supporting Aucklanders after the floods echoes the efforts of members nationwide, helping New Zealanders recover from natural disasters.
Before the Auckland Anniversary Weekend floods, Kath was working as a librarian for the Auckland Council. After the floods, she walked into the Tāmaki Makaurau Recovery Office, and never left.
From 27 January 2023, Auckland faced unprecedentedly high rainfall and catastrophic flooding, recording its wettest day on record since 1985.
The flooding resulted in four deaths, widespread displacement and the loss of countless homes, pets and local infrastructure.
“I was really lucky, it could’ve been a lot worse. My flat’s in the middle of a flood zone. Thankfully, it was only our laundry that flooded.”
Soon after the initial devastation, Kath was seconded to the newly formed Tāmaki Makaurau Recovery Office as a Recovery Specialist.
Kath was grateful to the support she had received from the PSA when the details of her new role were first being worked out. “Knowing I could turn to our local organisers to make sense of my new place in the recovery efforts was so helpful. It’s good knowing the PSA’s in our corner.”
Healing together
Eleven months on, she’s supporting the community as the city heals.
“We’ll be in recovery for a long time. Once you go into the communities that have been devastated…it’s beyond words. There’s broken roads, slips everywhere, houses are abandoned.
“It’s a tale of two cities. Some have been very densely affected and others experienced a bit of rain.”
The floods have started a discussion about the collective trauma people suffer in the wake of catastrophe.
“There’s a lot of anxiety in our communities. If I had a dollar for every time I heard ‘I get anxious when it rains’, we’d be able to fund all of our projects. They’re incredibly strong for what they’ve been through.”
Affected communities are over being brave and strong, and just want to get on with it, Kath says.
There have been some highlights, such as the return home of a community member’s pet turtle, after disappearing during the flooding.
“We were celebrating around the office after that email,” Kath says.
“It’s little wins you cherish after seeing so much hardship.”
Moving on
Staff in the Recovery Office are also looking forward to when they are no longer needed.
“There are a lot of amazing people in the team. There’s not a lot of places where you work towards not being needed anymore,” Kath says.
Kath and the Recovery Office are looking at the incoming summer to hold community events, in hopes to bring Auckland together in wake of the flooding. Linking communities is the priority, she says.
