Cyclone Gabrielle: Outreach missions for Whetakura, Te Uri and Pongaroa

The Te Uri outreach team.

After the successful outreach missions to Herbertville and Ākitio yesterday, the council is to conduct more outreach missions, this time to the communities of Whetakura, Te Uri and Pongaroa this morning.

The outreach missions are a joint effort by the Ministry of Social Development, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Tāmaki nui-a-Rua, Rangitāne o Tamaki nui-ā-Rua, FENZ, and council staff.

The aim of the outreach mission to the Te Uri and Whetakura area is to assess the welfare needs of the community. The aim of the Pongaroa mission is to assess welfare needs and survey buildings.

Te Uri outreach team at their briefing.

The team will also be going back to Herbertville to continue yesterday’s welfare and building checks.

Councillor Michael Long will be on the convoy to Whetakura and Te Uri, and councillors Sharon Wards and Steve Wallace will be going to Pongaroa.

Before the ground mission to the Whetakura and Te Uri area, a heli-drop provided two households with much-needed fuel, food, and veterinary supplies.

Where necessary, aerial missions will be conducted throughout the day to deliver generators and fuel to other isolated communities.

After access was gained to Pongaroa yesterday, the council was able to deliver palleted water to the community. This was necessary because Pongaroa had been issued a precautionary Boil Water Notice. Water has been delivered to the Pongaroa Hotel and Pongaroa Community Hall for immediate public consumption. A separate mission to Pongaroa is also planned today in order to deliver a water tanker.

Yesterday’s outreach missions to Ākitio and Herbertville were well received by the communities. The residents were, overall, in good spirits and it was evident they were working hard to look after one another.

After council teams managed to establish a route to Herbertville and Akitio yesterday and bring in a power generator to the cellphone tower, telephone company workers were able to restore telecommunications in both communities.

Tararua District Mayor Tracey Collis said, “Our incredible communities are pulling together to ensure no stone is left unturned in an effort to deal with the state of emergency declared as a result of Cyclone Gabrielle.

“Even though passable routes were made by council, these routes are challenging and in some areas, still extremely dangerous. There has been some use of these routes by members of the public and we strongly remind and discourage the use of them by the public.

“Our key message to the public is do not attempt to travel to Herbertville or Ākitio. If you have any concerns for friends and family please call them. If this is not possible, please call council at 06 374 4080 or 06 376 0110 where your concerns will be passed on to our response teams,” she said.