The inquiry is likely to examine warnings, weather forecasts, landslide and flood risks, preparedness and emergency responses in affected areas.
Hearings are scheduled in Auckland and Hastings from June to November.
A coroner has set aside nearly six weeks this year for hearings into the deaths of 18 people who died during or after the Auckland floods and Cyclone Gabrielle in early 2023.
Coroner Erin Woolley announced last year she was conducting a coronial inquiry into the weather-related fatalities, including those of three men who died in the following months and whose deaths may have been self-inflicted.
Her inquiry will look into issues arising from the Auckland Anniversary Weekend floods, which began on January 27, 2023, and Cyclone Gabrielle, which devastated the North Island’s east coast two weeks later.
This is a similar approach to that taken in a coroner’s inquiry into the multiple deaths in the Christchurch mosque attacks in 2019.
Coroner Erin Woolley is conducting a coronial inquiry into multiple deaths related to the Auckland floods and Cyclone Gabrielle.
The youngest of the people included in Coroner Woolley’s inquiry is toddler Ivy Collins, whose family home in Eskdale was flooded in the cyclone. The oldest is Helen Street, 86, who died in Napier and was dependent on supplied oxygen.
Thirteen of the fatalities were men. In addition to 2-year-old Ivy, four women died.
A hearing at the Hastings District Court last year was told that three men who died in the months following the cyclone would be included in the scope of the inquiry. They died in March, April and August 2023.
The Auckland part of Woolley’s inquiry is likely to look at what warnings were issued to the public, the weather forecasts, what was known about landslide risks in relevant areas, and whether emergency responses were adequate, timely and appropriate.
The issues in the Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti Gisborne section will probably include what was known about the risk of flooding at Te Karaka, Eskdale and Puketapu, and the planning decisions made about residential development in those areas.
The coroner is also likely to look at flood warnings, weather event preparedness and the response of emergency services, given some people who called 111 during the cyclone were told there was no help available.
David Young, Daniel Newth, Daniel Miller and David Lennard all died during flooding as heavy rain swept the Auckland region in January 2023. Main photo / Michael Craig
The cyclone was also associated with 12 deaths in Hawke’s Bay, Tairāwhiti Gisborne and surrounding areas.
“There is an increased likelihood of further weather events with widespread effects ... occurring again,” she said.
“It is in the public interest that any lessons that can be taken from these events are addressed before another such event occurs.”
The Auckland hearings are scheduled to be held at the Newmarket Court Hearing Centre from June 30 to July 4, and from August 18 to August 29.
The Hawke’s Bay hearings will be held at the Hastings courthouse from October 7 to October 17, and from November 10 to November 14.
Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay.
