Ground still moving on some properties after deluge

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Gisborne District Council engineers are continuing to work with the owners of 18 properties across the city and district that suffered damage in last week's rain event.

Civil Defence group controller David Wilson this morning said they had been working with the owners and their insurers “to see how we can make those properties safe enough for the residents to go back into them, and for a start to be made on repairs and clean-up work”.

Mr Wilson said the damage varied across the 18 properties.

“The ground is still moving. That's just how saturated it is.”

People who live on hillsides or riverbanks have been asked to check their properties for any sign of movement.

The wastewater emergency discharge valves at the Gladstone Road Bridge and Oak Street remained open this morning.

It has been open for nearly five days, discharging raw sewage into the city rivers and from there into Turanganui-a-Kiwa/Poverty Bay.

“We still have a large volume of stormwater from the rain working its way through the stormwater system,” Mr Wilson said.

“Our engineers are working as hard as they can to fix as much of that problem as possible.”

Residents have been asked to only wash clothes, flush toilets and shower as necessary to relieve neighbourhoods' wastewater systems.

Health warnings remain in place for the city rivers and the beaches, and it will be five days after the valves get shut again before those warnings are lifted.

The sun may be shining but the region was still saturated and caution was advised on Tairawhiti roads, Mr Wilson said.

“Council staff and contractors have been working through the weekend and were out and about today checking roads and properties as the recovery phase begins in earnest. Work on the many potholes will be prioritised but most have speed restrictions on them.”

A tree fell on to a house in Ruatoria on Saturday afternoon but no one was home at the time.

Contractors quickly moved in to protect the residents from the weather.