Cyclone Gabrielle: One month on for Tararua District

One of the worst-hit areas in the Tararua District was Akitio Beach. Photo / Dave Murdoch

It’s been a month since Cyclone Gabrielle hit the coast of Tararua District, and for many it’s still a period of uncertainty.

When the cyclone came through last month, it brought with it heavy rain which led to record rises in rivers and widespread flooding as well as significant damage to the land.

In areas like Herbertville, where the campground was flooded, and Ākitio, many residents were cut off from the rest of the Tararua District.

Tararua District Mayor Tracey Collis: It doesn't feel like a month. Photo / Leanne Warr

Tararua District Mayor Tracey Collis said it didn’t feel like a month.

“It just feels as raw as it was when we were going through it. The only difference is that we know all of our people are safe. When we were going through it, we didn’t.”

In those first few days of the response, councillors, local iwi and other support teams managed to get out to the cut-off communities to assess the situation and talk to people in the community through outreach missions.

The fact that it was a month was something Collis hadn’t realised until something else had come up.

“Even though it’s been a month, we’ve been living through this day by day, dealing with what we’ve needed to every day but actually not looking out to the future.

“It was a real eye-opener for me of how we’ve been in that survival mode day by day.”

She said if that was what she’d been like, that was what every business and every family that had also been impacted was going through.

Recovery was not going to be easy or swift.

Collis said it hurt on many levels, as farmers had put years into working with their land and developing it.

“They know the scale of the work that’s ahead of them as well; the years that it will take. There’s a personal devastation about watching the work that you’ve put in [be destroyed]. There’s a lot of hurt around the entire operation.”

There was also an underlying worry about what would happen as winter approached, with the possibility of more storms.

“What happens with these roads when you get the next big rain?”

She said farmers were very resilient, and emphasised everyone was “in this together”.

Part of the recovery effort lay in looking at where the impacts were, in terms of infrastructure as well as economically.

Collis said local business communities in Dannevirke and Pahiatua, for example, had been impacted as well, especially as many businesses served the coastal and rural communities.

There were also issues around roading infrastructure as the heavy rain and flooding caused a number of slips around the district.

Tararua District Council group manager of infrastructure Chris Chapman said funding came from Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency for the immediate response as well as the work done to date and any ongoing clean-up would also be funded by Central Government, but how the ongoing work, which would likely take years to repair, would look was yet to be confirmed.

He said there were also discussions around large-scale and potentially regional models for the roading rebuild still ongoing.

“There’s a lot of thinking - still a lot of stock-taking to be done. We’re still very much in the clean-up mode.”

Assessments of the road network and individual damage sites were still being done so some concepts and repair options could be developed and a cost calculated so funding could be applied for.

One of the big issues for residents in and around Ākitio was Coast Road, due to some slips and flooding which forced the closure of Marainanga Gorge.

Huge slip damage to Coast Road through the Marainanga Gorge between Ākitio and Pongaroa east of Dannevirke. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Chapman said usually, the problem with the gorge was rockfalls, but during the weather event, it was inundated with water when the river rose to a level that “broke all records”.

He said there was information from the Government that would help inform where the council would go with that, but if there were going to be significant costs to put in a resilient road or to replace it, ratepayers couldn’t afford that.

Collis said she understood the frustration of residents who were worried about another part of the road slipping, potentially cutting off access.

“There’s elements and parts of Coast Road that are still moving that need to be firmly understood.”

She said it would take time for geotechnical work to take place and Waka Kotahi wouldn’t approve any work while those parts of the road were still moving.

The district not only had support from people within the district, but also from around the country.

Collis said Rangitīkei District Council had pledged funds, and both Horowhenua District Council and Gore District Council were fundraising for the district.

She said there were many people out working, helping out, with support taking many different forms.

However, one of the challenges was when local people saw the news and the devastation in Hawke’s Bay, Te Tairāwhiti and Wairoa.

“They feel like they can’t even ask for help, even though they’re hurting themselves. Because the need is just so great over the country right now.”