Please help the Flynn-Coleman family in West Auckland remove dangerous & deadly pine trees following Cyclone Gabrielle
Laingholm, Auckland
Our family of five—including our 6-year-old son and two daughters (4 and 22 months)—are West Auckland locals; unfortunately, Cyclone Gabrielle caused major damage to our home on February 14, 2023. The cyclone's high winds and the extreme flooding from the week prior caused an enormous, 40metre-tall pine tree to fall and crash into our home about 1.45pm that day while we were all in the house.
Thankfully, and miraculously, all five of us were unharmed and safe, despite being metres away when the tree crashed through the roof, walls and floor, destroying about a third of our home. The sound of it crushing through the the house was harrowing and the screams of our children will be forever etched in our memory. We are incredibly grateful that we were safe during the impact and its aftermath.
Our home is unliveable while repairs and the rebuild take place. We have enough funds from our insurer to cover rent for about 5-6 months in temporary accommodation, but the rebuild is likely to take 6-8 months minimum, maybe more.
We've found a rental close by in our community so our kids can have some normality while our family home is rebuilt. We are fundraising to have the other dangerous pine trees taken down so that we feel safe to live in our home once again. We will of course be planting native trees in their place.
Any help during this difficult time would be immensely appreciated by our small whānau.
Thank you sincerely,
Sian & Simon Flynn-Coleman
#HelpFlynnColemanFamily
Any extra funds beyond what we need for living costs while the rebuild takes place will be put towards paying for the safe removal of the remaining precarious & dangerous pine trees around our home to prevent another similar incident in future.
What a year! Here's to the final push! 12 January 2024
We're so grateful to the generous donors who helped us raise funds to cut down the dangerous trees on our property. Givealittle donations came to $10,122 & a further generous donation brought the total to ~$18,000. Thank you to everyone for your support!
The total cost for all the treework was ~$25,000 - we covered the costs for the neighbour's trees as her home wasn't directly endangered. The arborists employed a technique called "totem poling," leaving the trunks in the ground to decay naturally, drastically reducing costs.
Our insurer has yet to finalise the settlement for our home's rebuild. Regrettably, once the settlement is reached, the funds will go straight to our bank for the rebuild costs, meaning we won't recoup any costs related to treework, landscaping or home repairs that we've funded ourselves, with assistance from family, credit cards, and loans.
In the midst of this, Simon received a job offer to relocate our family to Australia. Despite the stress at home, we saw this as a positive step & made the move in late September. Our hearts, however, will always belong to our beloved home in Laingholm.
Relocating meant refurnishing our home & preparing it for short-term rental to cover our mortgage payments while we reside in Australia. Managing two households on a single income has put a significant financial strain on our small family & we're hoping with the generosity of others we will be able to recoup some out-of-pocket expenses that we've funded this year.
Thank you so much for your generous donation, Gregory & the Lamothe family! We really appreciate your help 🙏
Thank you so very much for your generous contribution, J .
Soph - thank you so much for your generous donation to our fundraising efforts after the cyclone damage to our home. We really appreciate your help 🙏
Caz - thank you so much for your generous donation to our fundraising efforts after the cyclone damage to our home. We really appreciate your help 🙏
Hit & Whānau - thank you so much for your generous donation to our fundraising efforts after the cyclone damage to our home. We really appreciate your help 🙏
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