Support has come in from all corners for cut-off communities along the East Coast as the start of the region’s severe weather recovery gains momentum.
One person at Āwatere Marae said locals in the storm-hit area had been well supported by multiple organisations as volunteers in Gisborne packed food parcels to fly into cut-off communities.
Four Square Matakaoa, in Te Araroa, co-ordinated with Civil Defence to get food flown in to keep the shelves stocked.
Ngāti Porou has opened a weather event donation fund to be used and distributed for those impacted.
A Givealittle fundraiser for one severely affected whānau in Punaruku raised more than $20,000 in just over 20 hours.
In a statement, Te Rūnanganui o Ngāti Porou said it acknowledged “the outstanding efforts of our hapū leads, local response teams, marae committees, schools, kaimahi, and volunteers across our rohe” during the severe weather on Wednesday and Thursday.
“Some Ngāti Porou communities have been hit particularly hard and continue to manage and co-ordinate response efforts on the ground,” the statement said.
“Other local response teams have since stood down after assessing that their communities are safe and the environment is stable. We especially acknowledge and support our Te Araroa and Wharekahika [Hicks Bay] communities, and surrounding areas.
“Many kaimahi balanced response responsibilities alongside impacts on their own whānau, demonstrating extraordinary dedication and professionalism.”
Tairāwhiti Civil Defence said volunteers - including workers from Kāinga Ora - at the House of Breakthrough on Friday morning helped to pack kai parcels to be delivered to around 350 people isolated in the Wharekahika/Hicks Bay and Te Araroa areas.
“Those parcels are now in helicopters and heading to those in need. This is a regionally co-ordinated, locally led response and will continue until it is no longer required,” it said in a social media post at noon Friday.
Ripeka Irwin, ahi kaa of Āwatere Marae, said she was at the marae with her whānau (father and tamariki), after they had evacuated early.
“We got out early and moved here because I knew this was an evac centre and somebody had to man it,” she said.
“During the day we’ve got whānau coming in and out as well, just to check up.”
Irwain said about 20 people were at the marae for dinner on Thursday night.
“That was just whānau popping down, so it was beautiful.
“In general, all our side roads are isolated at the moment, but contractors are working out there.”
They had spent the last couple of days cleaning the marae as silt had come through.
Supplies were reaching people in the community, she said.
“There is a great relationship through multiple organisations, Civil Defence, the comms there are excellent, so we’re all being taken care of, I believe.
“Our whānau are resilient and we are organised. We’ve been through a lot of these events and we know we need to be okay for two to three days ourselves.”
Roslyn Metcalfe, who co-owns Four Square Matakaoa in Te Araroa with husband Rick, said a management team had been running the store on their behalf while they were out of town.
Two of the store’s staff were in isolated areas and she was speaking with them and all of the staff to make sure they were safe.
“We’ve been touching base with everyone up there,” she said.
“We closed the shop yesterday [Thursday] ... closing the shop was to stop people trying to get to the shop wherever they may be, so we closed it for safety.”
They opened as normal on Friday.
“We are working closely with Civil Defence.”
She said they would get a delivery of stock by helicopter on Sunday and the local fire brigade would help staff unload it.
“We’re resilient. We’ll get through this as a team and service the people.”
She hoped to get back to the township when the road re-opened.