Ben Green, the group manager and group controller for Tairāwhiti Emergency Management, spoke at an inquest on deaths in the Gisborne area during Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023.
Ben Green, the group manager and group controller for Tairāwhiti Emergency Management, spoke at an inquest on deaths in the Gisborne area during Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023.
The head of Tairāwhiti Emergency Management was the first to speak as a series of coronial inquests into the deaths of people when Cyclone Gabrielle struck in 2023 continued in Gisborne this week.
The latest of the inquests, being held before Coroner Erin Woolley, began at Gisborne District Court onMonday, following a hearing in Hastings last week.
Gisborne man Joseph Ahuriri, 40, disappeared while driving home from Napier to Gisborne during the cyclone. He was last seen on CCTV at a Bay View service station. There has been no sign of him since and his name was added to the inquest list last year.
Tairāwhiti Emergency Management group manager Ben Green told the Gisborne inquest Cyclone Gabrielle had been the “most powerful” storm since Cyclone Bola in 1988.
For Cyclone Gabrielle, Green said weather warnings came through on February 8, 2023, during a period that included the conclusion of the response to damage from Cyclone Hale when it struck the North Island in January that year.
Green said a series of meetings took place over the next few days.
Several warnings went out on Facebook and emergency texts were sent to people who lived in flood-prone and low-lying areas.
Coates would have been among those texted, Green said.
His son, who lived next door with his partner and children, was among those who evacuated, the hearing was told.
River levels were monitored, including the rising level of the Waipaoa River at Te Karaka.
Another warning text was sent while Waikohu Civil Defence kept a check on river levels as roads in the area became impassable.
People in Ormond township were advised to evacuate or go to an emergency centre.
Phone and internet links were lost.
The clean-up in Te Karaka shortly after Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023.
In Te Karaka, more than 400 people evacuated to higher ground. Sirens were used to wake them up.
People evacuated included those living in areas that had not flooded before, Green said.
They had access to food, water and toilets, he said.
The scale and severity of the weather was “unprecedented in New Zealand”, Green said.
Gisborne’s response also focused on community networks. Green gave a background to Gisborne’s responses to emergencies.
Since the cyclone, solar energy systems had been installed in a range of places, including rural schools and marae, to ensure communication could be maintained during a weather event.
During Cyclone Gabrielle, Green was based at the Gisborne District Council buildings, located near the confluence of three rivers in a tsunami risk zone.
