‘It’s surreal’: Caravonica family face of flood accommodation crisis
Displaced Caravonica nurse and mum of four Sam Reimers always thought homelessness was the result of making poor life choices … that was until two weeks ago.
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Displaced Caravonica mum of four Sam Reimers thought homelessness was the result of making poor life choices, until two weeks ago.
On Monday December 18, Sam and Anthony Reimers fled their Tarana Close rental property after seeing water come up the street and the neighbours leaving in droves.
“We were more worried about our children’s safety so we packed the kids into the van and left but we didn’t have time to save all of our possessions,” she said.
Returning to their house, the couple saved what they could, but like so many others were left shattered by a confronting pile of water-damaged possessions on the front lawn.
It was then that the family realised property managers had declared the house unliveable and a notice to leave was issued.
The registered nurse employed by the Redlynch Medical Centre had no contents insurance, her landlord had no cover either.
For two weeks Ms Reimers, who is the carer of her intellectually disabled brother, shuffled from house-to-house while making desperate attempts to secure suitable and affordable long term accommodation.
“We have been crashing at friends’ places, the first week we managed house-sit and now we’re at another friend’s house and she has three kids of her own, so it’s pretty crowded,” she said.
“It’s surreal, you think that people who make bad choices are the ones who end up homeless, but no, we are a nurse and an electrician and (could) end up living under a bridge.”
The Reimers’ family home was one of 824 properties that were either totally destroyed, severely, or moderately damaged by the flood.
An already tight Cairns rental market with a vacancy rate of less than 0.5 per cent before the weather event now has hundreds of flood victims in need of accommodation.
“Everyone is in the same boat, it was always a hard market and now everyone looking for somewhere has made it even harder,” Ms Reimers said.
The family unsuccessfully made tenancy applications and in desperation even looked at shifting into a caravan until a Parramatta Park Airbnb owner came to the rescue and offered a week-to-week lease.
At the last count in November there were 1750 Airbnb and similar advertisements for entire homes, including houses and units, within the Cairns area.
The Department of Housing is triaging displaced flood victims into hotel accommodation and has set up at disaster recovery hubs but executive director of Shelter Housing Action Sally Watson said the temporary transition of Airbnb properties back into the Cairns rental pool would take the pressure off the crisis accommodation sector.
“It’s good to hear someone is doing this and to get the message out in the press because some Airbnb owners might not have thought of doing it,” she said.
“I do think (the number of Airbnb properties) is having an impact and it would be great if the Airbnb owners would think about putting properties back into the market for six months or so.”
While Ms Reimers and her family have for the moment held homelessness at bay, losing 90 per cent of their possessions, uncertainty about a roof over their heads and sharing a house with 12 others has taken a toll.
“At the end of the day you want to come home and get in your bed but it doesn’t exist, the bed is gone, the couch is gone and all the creature comforts that you are used to are not there,” she said.
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Originally published as ‘It’s surreal’: Caravonica family face of flood accommodation crisis
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