Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Wairoa flooding: Locals can’t afford $40 million clean-up bill - mayor

RNZ
30 Jun, 2024 06:01 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Wairoa resident Libby Young cleaning up her flooded property on Thursday. Photo / Paul Taylor

Wairoa resident Libby Young cleaning up her flooded property on Thursday. Photo / Paul Taylor

By RNZ

The damage to Wairoa from last week’s devastating flooding could top $40 million, which the town cannot afford, the mayor says.

About 500 properties in the town were flooded when heavy rain hit parts of the East Coast last week.

A state of emergency remains in place.

Mayor Craig Little said a mountain of sodden carpet and destroyed belongings was now lining the streets.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

“Oh, people’s possessions, now just wet sodden heaps out in front of their homes - all their furniture and everything, beds, carpets, linos, underfloor insulation, the Gib inside, it’s just relentless really.”

The town’s landfill was already at capacity after Cyclone Gabrielle and it faced a huge cost to take the rubbish to other tips, he said.

Ratepayers were already facing a 20% rate increase.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Little said there was no way the community could foot the bill for the clean-up and he would be asking the Government for help.

Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery Mark Mitchell has already announced the Government would contribute $300,000 to the mayoral relief funds to help communities in Hastings, Wairoa and Tai Rāwhiti.

He would be going to Cabinet this week for extra funding to support the town’s clean-up and recovery.

Napier MP Katie Nimon earlier said the Government was working with insurers and the local council to understand the best way to assist people.

“It’s really important for us to see what’s going to be covered by insurance, what’s not.

“Ministers are working really hard to take a paper to Cabinet to get what we can to get the clean-up started, so council knows what can be done without having to worry about where it falls.”

- RNZ

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

'Traumatic situation': Napier bus collides with mobility scooter

13 Jun 08:02 PM
Premium
Opinion

The Cossack ready to resume from where he left off

13 Jun 06:00 PM
Premium
Opinion

The trust, the individuals and the interns - the volunteers who make MTG tick: Laura Vodanovich

13 Jun 06:00 PM

It was just a stopover – 18 months later, they call it home

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

'Traumatic situation': Napier bus collides with mobility scooter

'Traumatic situation': Napier bus collides with mobility scooter

13 Jun 08:02 PM

The scooter rider suffered serious injuries and was taken to hospital.

Premium
The Cossack ready to resume from where he left off

The Cossack ready to resume from where he left off

13 Jun 06:00 PM
Premium
The trust, the individuals and the interns - the volunteers who make MTG tick: Laura Vodanovich

The trust, the individuals and the interns - the volunteers who make MTG tick: Laura Vodanovich

13 Jun 06:00 PM
Premium
Is rent ‘dead money? Nick Stewart

Is rent ‘dead money? Nick Stewart

13 Jun 06:00 PM
The woman behind NZ’s first PAK’nSAVE
sponsored

The woman behind NZ’s first PAK’nSAVE

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP