Closed Hawke’s Bay schools welcomed by other schools in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle

More than six weeks on from Cyclone Gabrielle three Hawke’s Bay schools remain shut, with hundreds of students displaced.

School leaders speak of the strength of their staff and students holding schools together while they are dealing with the personal impact of the cyclone.

Of the 151 schools in the Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti regions, 80 sustained some form of damage, Scott Evans, Ministry of Education leader Infrastructure and Digital, said.

Most only suffered minor damage for which works are completed, under way, or planned for the school holidays.

The Ministry is working with the more significantly damaged schools to confirm required repairs and most of this is expected to be completed over the next nine to 12 months.

But there may be a small number which will take longer due to the scale and complexity of repairs, Evans said.

Omahu School, Nūhaka School, and Eskdale School remain closed and are operating at alternative sites.

Omahu School was filled with contaminated water and thick sludge, damaging buildings, teaching resources, and students’ work.

The school is currently operating at Irongate School in Flaxmere.

“We were welcomed with a pōwhiri which was very warming and the entire Omahu community came to take us to this new place of learning,” Principal Te Kewena White said.

He said the cyclone has had a huge impact on students and has shared what they have written about their experience.

Hukarere Girls College in Eskdale was one of the many schools that sustained damage from Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / Ian Cooper

“I was thinking about safety. I was hoping we wouldn’t get flooded. I felt scared. The water was rushing fast. I was hoping we could get out of Omahu,” one wrote.

“I was really angry because my dog and three kittens died. They drowned”, said another.

“The dirty water was coming in. Everyone was stuck. The water kept coming in. I wasn’t feeling good. I was happy when the police came with a helicopter to save my family,” a third wrote.

White said the nationwide support the school has received is “overwhelming” and the school is moving forward, thanks to that help.

The school met with the Ministry of Education last week and is looking to move to a dedicated space at Flaxmere College in term four, where they could be for possibly two to three years, White said.

At Nūhaka School, a block of three classrooms, the PE and sports gear shed, the seed raising area, and shade gardens were damaged, Principal Raelene McFarlane said.

Three-quarters of the school is now at St Joseph’s School in Wairoa and intermediate students are at the Wairoa Community Centre.

McFarlane thinks this has been the hardest term in staff members’ careers.

“We had school members lose loved ones with [cyclone] Gabrielle, lose possessions, lose track of family during a really hard time and they’ve been trying to help rebuild their own lives as well as keep the school together that’s displaced.”

The school is looking at a long-term solution, so it is more resilient to future severe weather events but is expecting to be displaced for some time.

They are working with a local chapel to access teaching space in Nūhaka and aim to be back in the area next term.

The total estimated cost of clean-up and repairs to schools impacted by the cyclone is yet to be confirmed, but more than $7 million has been made available to schools for immediate clean-up and identified repairs following this year’s floods and cyclone.

The Ministry said more funding will be made available as required.