‘Devastated’: Mum and three daughters living out of suitcase after floods

Krystal Brens and her three girls have been living out of their suitcases since their Dunedin home was red-stickered in the floods. Photo / Supplied
A mother and her three young daughters have been forced to leave their home and everything in it after the Dunedin floods saw the property red-stickered.
Mother of three Krystal Brens hasn’t been able to set foot in her Clyde Hill home since last Monday, when Dunedin City Council red-stickered the property.
“I was shaken to the core, life feels like it’s been tipped upside down,” 30-year-old Brens said.
Nearly 50 properties have been red or yellow stickered since the deluge of two weeks ago.
Red stickers mean entry to the building is prohibited because the damages pose a threat to life or health.
Brens’ house was red-stickered due to severe damage from heavy rain and flooding. Landslips left the foundations significantly damaged, including a cracked pile.
“There are massive rain cracks, quite deep, six to seven meters long in some parts,” she said.
Her friend of seven years, Amy Bathgate said when she found out, she knew she needed to step in.
“Krystal would never ask for help, so I just told her I was going to start a Givealittle.”
Bathgate said Brens was the type of person to do everything herself.
“Before she found out it was red stickered, she went to Bunnings and YouTube to try and fix the house herself,” she said.
Bathgate started the page with the help of a group of friends, including Vikkie Ambler. Ambler said Brens had worked towards that house for years.
“She’d poured her blood sweat and tears into getting that house for her girls…It couldn’t have happened to a harder-working woman,” she said.
“I was devastated … all these dreams have just been ripped from her.”
Brens and her daughters had moved into the house midway through last year.
“I worked my ass off to get a job that would pay high enough to buy that home, and now it feels like it’s been taken away,” she said.
Brens is fully insured, but her situation falls under the Natural Hazards Commission (NHC).
“This means they will only cover either the land value or the repair costs, whichever is less,” she said.
Brens and her girls are living with a friend for the time being, while their dog is staying with Bathgate.
“I need to try to provide as much normalcy and stability for the kids as possible, things like school sports camps, with school camps and everything … I want to still do all that for them,” she said.
Brens has also been told she may not be able to move back into the house for another 12 months, if at all.
To back into her home, the house will need re-piling and a high retaining wall.
“This will cost a massive amount more than the land value.”
She said the help from her friends had kept her going.
“I struggle to accept help, I’ll help everyone else, but I struggle to accept it … but I’m at a point where I’m in crisis and I need to accept any help that I can get,” she said.
“I am so incredibly thankful to them stepping up, and to everyone else that has supported and rallied behind me.”
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