East Coast flooding: Wairoa remains in state of emergency as clean-up continues; hundreds of properties flood-damaged

The clean-up continues in flood-hit Wairoa and Haumoana after heavy rain and flooding forced hundreds of evacuations and left thousands of homes without power on the East Coast on Wednesday and Thursday.

MetService lifted all weather warnings from Hawke’s Bay on Thursday morning after rain and flooding caused havoc in parts of the region, leaving the settlements of Wairoa and Haumoana in local states of emergency.

In some places, more than 200mm of rain fell within 24 hours, and water from swells added to the flooding in both settlements.

Haumoana and Cape Coast residents were settling back in shortly after high tide on Thursday morning after their second evacuation in 24 hours.

The state of emergency for the area was lifted at 12.04pm following the high tide.

The impact of the 6m swells along their stretch of Hawke’s Bay coastline has once again raised further questions about coastal resilience.

Four properties have been issued yellow placards, which indicate that parts of the homes have restricted access or only short-term access.

A state of emergency was lifted for Haumoana and the Cape Coast on midday Thursday. Photo / James Pocock

In Wairoa, where the state of emergency remained on Thursday afternoon, Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell gave a media conference after visiting the area to survey the damage.

Floodwaters were receding, but the weather had left widespread damage inside the properties, destroying carpets and walls.

More than 400 wide area assessments were carried out with 116 properties having flood damage of up to $150,000, controller for the Wairoa Civil Defence Emergency Operation Centre Juanita Savage said.

Six houses had been “majorly impacted” and 72 were recorded as having minor damage. Vehicles, sheds and garages have also been inundated.

The Rapid Building Assessment process of flooded properties and clean-up was ongoing.

Crews continued to clean up flood-hit Wairoa on Thursday, where hundreds of homes received damage. Photo / Paul Taylor

George Drysdale, Firstlight network operations manager, confirmed on Thursday afternoon that 550 customers were still without power in some areas of Wairoa and Gisborne.

“Our crews are out today to restore power, but progress is slow as the damage caused by the storms is restricting their access with damaged poles, trees down and slips blocking access,” he said.

“As the weather improves, we will work quickly to restore power as much as possible, but this could take a few days.”

The substation in Wairoa was returned to service after an inspection was completed.

At its peak, Firstlight Network was responding to widespread power outages from south of Wairoa to Te Araroa affecting over 2000 customers.

“We understand it’s frustrating to be without power, and we appreciate everyone’s patience. We ask that people keep our faults number handy: 0800 206 207 and look at our Firstlight Network Facebook page for updates”.

The Wairoa substation was back in action on Thursday. Photo / Paul Taylor

On Thursday morning, 22 people remained in Wairoa evacuation centres and no injuries were reported.

Evacuation centres would remain open for those who needed support.

The Government announced it would give $100,000 to the Wairoa Mayoral Relief Fund to help aid the clean-up.

Mitchell said he had released all the support he could as Emergency Management Minister but would update the Cabinet on Monday.

And he said his message to the local area was: “You’re not on your own.”

“We’re in a huge crisis,” said Wairoa Mayor Craig Little said.

“We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us... but we do it for our community and we’ll get there.”

The flood damage has compounded a housing crisis in Wairoa, which still has 200 homes in the North Clyde area, unaffected by recent flooding, that are unliveable after Cyclone Gabrielle.

Wairoa Mayor Craig Little says they are in crisis. Photo / Paul Taylor

Mark Mitchell speaks at a press conference in Wairoa today. Photo / Paul Taylor

Crews specialised in water rescue are en route to Wairoa on Thursday morning to join Fire and Emergency NZ Urban Search and Rescue (Usar) teams after heavy rain and flooding on Wednesday.

Fire and Emergency NZ shift manager Allison Munn said a task force of crews specialised in water rescues made their way to Wairoa to join Fire and Emergency NZ Urban Search and Rescue (Usar) teams on the ground during the response.

Wairoa Business Association chairwoman Sue Wilson said the council learned their lesson from Cyclone Gabrielle about how to respond to weather events.

”People were prepared. I spoke to several businesses who were prepared. Even though there was a power outage some of them got by.”

NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi confirmed the state highways connecting Napier, Wairoa and Gisborne will remain open despite the overnight rain, while one lane of State Highway 38 from Frasertown to Lake Waikaremoana was open to residents and emergency services only.

Smaller showers could make their way throughout the region into Friday.

MetService meteorologist John Law told NZ Herald a deep low-pressure system continued to linger over the East Coast on Thursday morning, which will feed some showers and spells of rain, but they will not be “as intense”.