‘Groundswell of awhi’ for sandbagging to protect homes, businesses

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

A community project at Makaraka this weekend is aiming to fill 10,000 sandbags for Tairāwhiti.

The joint initiative between Gisborne District Council and the Rapid Relief Team (RRT) has attracted a “groundswell of awhi”, says Tairāwhiti Emergency Management Manager Ben Green. Fulton Hogan are lending support.

Locals in flood-prone or low-lying areas  are invited to collect up to 10 sandbags for home or business use, between 11am and 2pm on Saturday.

Mr Green said the aim was to prepare the region as much as possible when faced with extreme weather events.

“We are moving into winter, and we know more rain is coming.

“Often, we’ve seen community members try to locate sandbags in the midst of an event, which requires sand, and this is while trying to respond to their situation.”

The project sought to take a proactive approach, to have a ready and deployable reserve of sandbags distributed throughout the region that communities could activate.

Mr Green said the sandbagging machine being used in Gisborne at the weekend was one of only two in New Zealand.

They were imported by the RRT from the US. One machine stays in the South Island and one is in the North Island.

RRT team leader Clarke Judd said it was a practical way to help communities be proactive rather than reactive for flood events.

“The Rapid Sand Bagger will be operated by RRT volunteers who aim to fill around 500 bags an hour. Since each sandbag weighs around 16kg, locals could bring along their trailer if possible.

“The intention is that the filled sandbags will be distributed in flood-prone areas. This includes the city, up the coast and the river catchments,” Mr Judd said.

A quantity will be stored by Fulton Hogan to be brought out when needed.

On Friday, RRT volunteers will start filling up the bags with the machine, using sand from local beaches. The sand is being collected by Siteworx Civil, where Mr Judd works.

East Coast Hire will also donate their equipment and Fulton Hogan will transport the bags. Pro-Traffic are volunteering their traffic management services for  the day and Fulton Hogan has agreed to store the pre-filled sandbags not stored in private homes or businesses.

“The sandbags won’t stop flooding, however, they will provide peace of mind for whānau and business owners,” Mr Green said.

“Having a ready supply on hand that can be immediately deployed is what we are seeking to provide for whānau who can often avert damage by deploying them.”

The event is taking place at Halbert Road, off Main Road at Makaraka. A free sausage sizzle will be operating to sustain the volunteers.

“We thank Clarke and the Rapid Relief Team for the use of their specialised machine, the community volunteers who have hopped on board and all the businesses that have supported this,” Mr Green said.

“We also want to acknowledge Fulton Hogan who will be partnering up with us to take care of the logistics of getting these sandbags into the region.”