A South Dunedin man who has been been hit twice by flooding says he has no plans to move out.
Tane Duff, who spoke to the Otago Daily Times yesterday, said everyone seemed to be more prepared for this month’s flooding event compared with the similarly damaging 2015 floods.
Mr Duff said the warnings were a lot clearer and came earlier than 2015.
"As soon as the warning went out, you knew you had to take heed.
"I put all my belongings up high this time around, so I didn’t lose anything this time.
"But it was scary ... while the flood was rising, I had to move up to the golf course on the hill for the evening. I couldn’t go back until the next day."
Mr Duff, who said he "lost everything" in the 2015 floods, said the water came through the whole property this time around as well.
"When I went back to the flat, it was pretty wet and pretty smelly — we’ve had to remove the carpet and the lino. I’m not sure how long that will take to replace.
"The landlord gave me a hand moving things; we managed to save the fridge and freezer."
While Mr Duff acknowledged there could be similar floods in South Dunedin in the future; he was not planning to move any time soon.
"I love it here, everything is so close by."
Yesterday, Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins and Taieri MP Ingrid Leary visited Mr Duff and other residents affected by this month’s flood.
Mr Hipkins said the council response to the flooding this time was of gold standard, but events of this size were a reminder of the ongoing challenges posed by climate change.
Last year, the council submitted a bid to the then-Labour government for $132.5 million from the Treasury’s National Resilience Plan to buy at-risk properties or sites to convert into flood mitigation systems in South Dunedin.
"We were very open to that," Mr Hipkins said.
"We asked for more work to be done on that."
Mr Hipkins said the present government was wrong to turn down the council’s proposal and scrap the $6 billion National Resilience Plan fund.
"The reality is, in New Zealand, we are going to have more flood-prone areas in the future as a result of rising sea levels and as a result of climate change, and the government really needs to start preparing for that now."
