Cry for help as Nelson pharmacy staff find themselves homeless

As the rain was pelting down in Nelson and Marlborough on Saturday, Nelson pharmacist Reuben Pollock had a phone call at work no one wants: slips had caused a retaining wall on his property to collapse, making it dangerous for his family to stay there.

His wife Gabbi Pollock, also a pharmacist, was at home with their six-month-old son Theo and two miniature schnauzers, Ace and Elmo, when she heard one of three retaining walls behind their home collapsing.

“We were told the house was red-stickered and we had to get out straight away,” says Mr Pollock, who works at Life Pharmacy Prices in Nelson.

The family was allowed to grab essential supplies and is now living out of a suitcase. Essential supplies include the many medicines Mr Pollock has to take, as he is now immunocompromised after having a kidney replacement in 2019.

“It’s been very stressful and not the best of times, but we’re making it work.”

The Pollocks, who relocated to Nelson a couple of years ago and bought their home a year ago, have no family in the area but have been temporarily housed through their local church.

Mrs Pollock, who was about to start part-time work at Collingwood Street Pharmacy after taking maternity leave, has flown with their son and dogs back to Auckland to get family support while Mr Pollock tries to organise housing for them.

“There was no way she could start work right now. Theo was going to have some trial days at daycare but none of that can happen at the moment.”

His church contact managed to find him a local Airbnb until the end of this week. Other than that, his family has nowhere to go for at least the next six months, which is the earliest assessors have estimated repairs can be made to the retaining walls at his property.

Although the home was red-stickered for now, as long as the remaining retaining wall doesn’t slip, the construction work looks relatively uncomplicated. The house remains structurally sound at this stage.

“We were lucky that the husband of the dispensary manager at work is our insurance broker, who came out to the house the morning it happened and organised construction people to come and look at it.”

Finding a rental home in Nelson is difficult at the best of times but is almost impossible now, especially one that is pet-friendly, he says.

“The dogs are a big part of the family and not having them with us will be very stressful.”

A pharmacy technician colleague at Prices has offered to take the dogs for a few days but they might have to stay in Auckland until suitable accommodation has been sorted out, Mr Pollock says.

The couple is keen to stay in Nelson and are not considering moving back to Auckland.

Like others made homeless by the floods in Nelson, Mr Pollock hopes some of the area’s many empty holiday homes might become available to rent longer term in the coming months.

Overall, 483 properties have been evacuated in the area, according to the Nelson Tasman Emergency Management Group.

Prices’ retail assistant Jemima Jones’ home backs onto the Maitai River, but it was still a shock when the banks broke and her garden, then house, was flooded.

With six inches of mud in her backyard and three inches of water and mud in her kitchen, dining and lounge areas, the rental home was given a yellow sticker, meaning residents can go there temporarily to collect belongings but cannot stay long due to safety concerns around electricity and sewage.

The Nelson local of seven years has children living part time with her. They are now staying with their father until she hears when they can return home.

With water restrictions in place, she cannot use a hose or water blaster, but has done her best to clean floors, to little effect.

In the mean time, she is staying with friends and counts herself one of the lucky ones.

“Everybody’s been affected somehow – the impact is very far reaching. We got off lightly – there are other people way worse off.”

She says the area is now drying out, but many people are still waiting to see if mud falls on their homes as slips are still happening.

After weeks of heavy rain causing widespread flooding and major slips, the Nelson-Tasman area was declared a state of emergency on August 17, and this has been extended until 31 August.

Of the homes that have been registered and assessed so far, 15 have received red stickers, 108 have yellow stickers and 339 have been given white stickers and can be reoccupied.

The group estimates that between 300 and 350 properties have been affected by landslips.

The weather is clear for the next day or so but there is more rain forecast on Thursday.