Cyclone Gabrielle floods: Hawke’s Bay, Gisborne isolated and running low on supplies - death toll set to rise as witnesses describe seeing ‘multiple bodies’
Tens of thousands remain without power, and Napier is expected to be without electricity for two weeks
Residents in part of Hawke’s Bay are being urged to evacuate immediately as police slam looters raiding flood-stricken locals.
People living on Drumpeel Road in Central Hawke’s Bay are being asked to “leave their properties immediately” and head to the CHB Municipal Theatre. Parts of Hawke’s Bay still reeling from the devastation of Cyclone Gabrielle are also being warned to brace for thunderstorms today.
Police have arrested five people in Hawke’s Bay overnight who robbed commercial builders and authorities have deplored how “truly unfair” it is to steal from people who have potentially lost everything.
“We’re taking a very hard line in relation to any unlawful, criminal behaviour. It is just so unfair to steal from people who potentially have lost everything. That is truly unfair,” Superintendent Jeanette Park said.
Hawke’s Bay locals are in the firing line of more bad weather, with localised downpours of 25 to 40mm per hour and hail expected in some areas between 3pm and 10pm. Bad weather is also forecast in parts of Gisborne, where police said this morning they were investigating a death of a person in Gisborne who they believe was caught in floodwaters - with “grave” fears the death toll will rise.
Gisborne’s Mayor Rehette Stoltz said she is “devastated” by the death and that the whole community is reeling.
The full extent of the destruction - from the east coast regions of Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne to Auckland’s west coast beach settlements of Muriwai and Piha - is starting to dawn. Thousands of people are out of their homes, more than 1400 people remain ”uncontactable” on a missing-person database, and new images reveal wrecked roads and bridges, properties, and infrastructure. Nearly 150,000 people were still without power across the North Island yesterday - and Hawke’s Bay Regional Council said this morning that Napier should expect to be without electricity for the next two weeks.
One startling Defence Force image shows a truck-and-trailer unit swamped by debris on a wrecked section of State Highway 2 between Napier and Wairoa.
Cyclone Gabrielle
State Highway 2 SH@ Napier to Wairoa, bridge and forestry slash / logs from New Zealand Defence Force NH90 helicopter 15 February 2023
picture supplied
credit: NZDF
Three victims have so far been confirmed in Hawke’s Bay - a child in Eskdale, a woman in northern Hawke’s Bay and a person in Bay View - and one, a volunteer firefighter, in Muriwai, west of Auckland. Police say 1442 people remain “uncontactable” - while they expect this number to drop dramatically, they have “grave concerns” for at least several of them in the Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne regions.
Community fears are also growing of multiple deaths in one of the areas hardest hit by Cyclone Gabrielle, with coastal residents of Napier’s Bay View claiming they saw several bodies washed away by raging flood waters. As search crews in Hawke’s Bay continue to try and get to people stranded by the floodwaters created by Cyclone Gabrielle, residents of Bay View and nearby Esk Valley – which had areas decimated and parts of it remaining underwater – spoke of their fears of more fatalities.
One man said a relative had seen multiple bodies floating in water near Bay View. Another – who lives in a property on the Bay View shoreline – said other locals had told him they had seen the same thing.
And prominent Eskdale resident, former Havelock North Borough Council councillor and mayor and one-term MP Jeff Whittaker said he had grave fears for those trapped by surging flood waters in Esk Valley.
“I can imagine there will be some people lost in there,” he told the Herald. “There could be. I know a lot of people who live up the Valley. At Esk Park there is a housing [development] up there and we have no idea what has happened up there.
“We can’t go up there [to check]. There is no phone or communications [up there]. There could have been [a few more swept away] ... it took so long getting to [the area due to conditions].”
Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise told Newstalk ZB this morning that the region was slowly beginning to open up, with more supplies and help on the way. There was still no power throughout the region and cellphone coverage was patchy. Tapwater was safe and she encouraged everyone to stay hydrated.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency said State Highway 51, a vital link between Napier, Clive and Hastings, reopened at 8pm on Wednesday following an assessment by engineers. State Highway 50, the Napier-Hastings Expressway, remains closed but Taylor said contractors would likely be in a position to start clearing debris from today.
Hundreds of eastern region residents have been rescued from rooftops and waters since floods inundated the region, cutting off roads, bridges, and isolating communities.
Twelve helicopters are still working to rescue people and it was expected the rescues would all be completed today, Emergency Response Minister Kieran McAnulty said at a briefing on Wednesday. One building had 60 people on the roof, he said.
Cyclone Gabrielle has ripped through Hawke's Bay, destroying livelihoods and costing lives. Photo / Paul Taylor
“Everyone knows we have a long path ahead of us ... this is a significant disaster and it’s going to take many weeks for those areas affected to recover,” McAnulty said.
Entire regions have been isolated with zero contact, people still remain uncontactable. Essentials like water, food and fuel are in short supply in many places.
The situation has been described as “dire” by officials, with a fuel limit of $40 imposed by the Gisborne District Council.
More than 9000 people have left their homes around Hawke’s Bay, with 3000 of them staying in Civil Defense facilities.
Evacuations from Venables Ave in Napier. Photo / Paul Taylor
A woman is still missing in Hawke’s Bay after the Eskdale property she was housesitting was suddenly inundated by floodwaters early on Tuesday morning, RNZ reported.
At about 2.30am on Tuesday, floodwaters ripped through the house at an “absolutely mad speed”, even though the building had been designed to survive floods - it was built on 1.2 metre piles.
Police are now pouring more officers and staff into Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne.
Police help with evacuations at Venables Ave in Maraenui, Napier. Photo / Paul Taylor
“With other storm-affected districts reporting they are able to manage their response within existing resources, Police National Headquarters is now focused on critical support for Eastern District,” said the police statement. “We are redeploying more than 70 staff from Bay of Plenty, Central, Wellington, Tasman, Canterbury and Southern districts, as well as the Royal New Zealand Police College, to Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti over the next 48 hours.”
Police on Wednesday also deployed 12 search and rescue specialist staff to assist with recovery efforts in the district. The additional staff would support recovery efforts and provide community reassurance.
“We are aware that many of our staff in the Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne areas have themselves been affected by the storm, but they have continued to work hard to support rescue efforts, manage road closures, and make contact with isolated people,” police said.
“Communications into and out of the area continue to be challenging, however, as telecommunication services start to come back online, police anticipate an increase in the number of reports of missing people, found people, damage to property, and demand for basic resources such as food, water, and fuel.”
State Highway 2 Napier to Wairoa has been destroyed by Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / Supplied
Energy Minister Megan Woods said there were still 60,000 households in Hawke’s Bay without power, but recent access to the flooded Redcliffe substation could help that.
The residences in Wairoa are submerged and the area has been completely cut off, according to aerial photos supplied by Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence. Authorities are working frantically to establish communication and transportation routes with the community because there are fears that supplies would only last for one more day in the town.
About half of the town’s 8000 residents live in the 10-15 per cent of the town submerged by the river when its banks broke in Wairoa. The sole means of communication in the absence of power or phones is a satellite phone. Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites were utilised by Wairoa Council to communicate. There are “serious issues” in the area, it stated.
Wairoa has been inundated by flooding. Photo / Supplied
Wairoa Mayor Craig Little has told social media followers they were in a bad way up in Wairoa.
“We are strong but this is really devastating for a lot of people.”
In an email on Tuesday evening, the council said Wairoa had been “significantly impacted by river flooding as a result of Cyclone Gabrielle.”
Hundreds of people have been evacuated in Wairoa.
“We are managing but we are geographically isolated and facing severe challenges. These include food and water supply, fuel and communications. We are working to ensure people’s safety and trying to provide the best services we can given our limitations.”
Little said they are desperately in need of assistance, with hundreds evacuated from properties mainly surrounding the river catchment.
“We are geographically isolated with roads into the district closed and bridges washed away on State Highways. We have received very little help because we are so cut off and everywhere around us is in emergency mode.”
Aerial photographs reveal the extent of damage in storm-ravaged Wairoa. Photo / Hawke's Bay Civil Defence
Commander of Joint Forces, New Zealand Rear Admiral Jim Gilmore told NZME this evening said they had three helicopters “standing by” around Napier, ready to transport food and water to those stranded and unable to get supplies themselves.
Gisborne Mayor Rehette Stoltz told NZME this afternoon that today some supermarkets in the ravaged Tairāwhiti region could reopen after power cuts forced their closure across the region.
Water levels in the city’s reservoirs continue to drop as demand exceeds supply and Tairāwhiti Civil Defence Group Controller Ben Green said water use must be reduced.
“If we do not cut our water demand as a community then our taps will run dry,” Green said.
“Industry has been asked to stop all water use from today, that’s how serious it is.”
A bridge over the Hikuwai River between Tolaga Bay and Tokomaru Bay was taken out during Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / Supplied
Along the pipeline that delivers water to the city, numerous breaks have been found. Crews are travelling to the location, but it is difficult to get there. Green said it will take a few more days for the backup Waipaoa supply to start functioning.
There is some significant damage on SH35, including Hikuwai No 1 bridge, as can be seen in the images. There are slips all along SH35 as well.
The young person’s body located in Eskdale, near Napier, was found before 2pm on Wednesday. The child is believed to have been caught in rising water the day before, a police spokesperson said.
Flooding in Eskdale, Napier, due to Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / Supplied
One man said a relative had seen multiple bodies floating in water near Bay View. Another – who lives in a property on the Bay View shoreline – said other locals had told him they had seen the same thing.
And prominent Eskdale resident, former Havelock North Borough Council councillor and mayor and one-term MP Jeff Whittaker, said he had grave fears for those trapped by surging floodwaters in Esk Valley.
“I can imagine there will be some people lost in there,” he told the Herald.
“There could be. I know a lot of people who live up the Valley. At Esk Park there is a housing [development] up there and we have no idea what has happened up there.”
Incredible pictures of people being rescued from their rooftops in Esk Valley, close to Napier, have been posted by the Defence Force. The local homes and properties were completely underwater. According to the Defence Force, victims were rescued from their homes using three NH90 helicopters.
Napier mayor Kirstin Wise said the latest information they’d received from Transpower was that electricity was “likely to be a number of days away.
“We’re communicating with them constantly to try and get some clarity around what that means,” she said.
The Redclyffe Bridge between Waiohiki and Taradale in Napier was brought down. Photo / Paul Taylor
Meanwhile, communications were “incredibly patchy” and Wise said the primary source of information is the radio.
“Cellphone coverage and internet coverage is pretty much non-existent,” she said.
“That lack of communication is really dire and it does elevate everybody’s feelings of anxiousness.
“If I’m completely honest we’re actually feeling pretty isolated at the moment and yeah I have been discussing that with the team this morning about how we can start accessing these [state of national emergency] resources at a national level because we don’t have the resources on hand here to be able to do it alone.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Wise urged people to stay off the roads for non-urgent travel.
She said the roads had to be kept clear for emergency services.
