While it is still too early to put a figure on the cost of Northland’s clean-up, local leaders agree the region faces a long road ahead.
Far North Deputy Mayor and chair of the Northland Civil Defence emergency management (CDEM) group, Kelly Stratford, said although the cyclone was over, there were displaced families, widespread road closures and power outages.
”We are looking to move into the recovery and clean-up phase but we’re still looking after the needs of the people who are not able to be in their homes at the moment.”
Clearing roads and getting power back on were the main priorities at the moment, Stratford said.
“We’ve still got power outages at our water treatment plants, we’ve got towns, small communities without water.”
As of Thursday, 10 roads impacted by flooding and slips were closed in the Far North, 23 in Kaipara, and 29 in Whangārei.
Potentially most concerning, was the vital pathway in and out of Northland over the Brynderwyn Hills. The troubled stretch of State Highway 1 had only just reopened after last week’s slip when Cyclone Gabrielle hit.
Major landslides, that took out concrete barriers recently installed and flooded across the entire road, meant the portion of the highway was again closed. No timeline as to when it will reopen has been set as Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency says it still needs to access the site and properly assess the damage.
Fortunately, receding floodwaters to the west and north-west of the Brynderwyn Hills allowed SH12, SH14 and SH15 to reopen yesterday - welcome news as freights carrying essential goods and services can re-enter Northland.
At the storm’s peak, almost 30,000 Northlanders were without power but that had dropped to less than 14,000 by Thursday afternoon with both Top Energy and Northpower boasting great progress encouraged by fine weather.
Stratford said communications outages had made getting a full picture of the scale of the damage more difficult.
”There are people still sheltering at marae, people still cut off from the rest of the world.”
Food and fuel trucks will arrive in most parts of the Far North today to restock supermarkets and grocery stores.
Whangārei Mayor Vince Cocurullo said his district was “not out of trouble” yet.
The district council was still “trying to get to all the issues”.
Cocurullo said the council had received more than 100 calls an hour for most of Wednesday from people reporting issues around the district.
“We are still clearing roads, we are still trying to get water out to people’s places, we are still trying to ensure access.”
The mayor waived concerns Cyclone Gabrielle would create an even greater backlog in council maintenance tasks.
“One of the great things about Whangārei and we have to be very, very proud of this is because of our many years of maintenance we have actually fared relatively well compared to other districts,” he said.
“You look at Dargaville at the moment, you see what they’re having to go through. You look at Gisborne, at what they’re having to go through.”
Cocurullo said Whangārei had bounced back relatively fast because of the council’s “constant maintenance”.
“We’ve had a lot of rainfall but we are actually dealing with the issue quite well as a district.”
However, he stressed that our biggest link to Auckland - State Highway 1 - needed to be opened again.
But more importantly, Cocurullo said, was to look after one another.
The message of unity was echoed by Kaipara Mayor Craig Jepson.
“Although we are through the worst of the cyclone, the huge job of cleaning up and assessing damage is just beginning,” he said.
“One of our main priorities is getting access to our isolated communities, and getting a clear picture of where the needs are.”
The council was working with Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) and the Defence Force to clear access and deliver essentials to cut-off areas such as Kaihu and Poutō where people have been isolated for days without power or road access.
“Our roading teams are working hard and have made significant progress on our local network. It is a big job and it will take some time.”
But the news wasn’t all bad as the restored freight route on SH12 will allow food supplies to be restocked in Kaipara.
The region’s recovery extends to the seas as Northland harbourmaster Jim Lyle said 16 boats in Whangārei ran aground and another six sunk, and a boat was in “total pieces” in Paihia.
“The sustained wind in one direction dragged moorings, breaking boats off.”
Lyle said other storms had damaged more vessels in the Bay of Islands than Cyclone Gabrielle.
He recalled a storm in 2007 that destroyed nearly every boat in the Kerikeri Inlet.
“But in Whangārei I haven’t had this sort of level for small boats in my time here,” Lyle said.
The harbourmaster was working with the owners to determine any issues with the boats and whether they were insured.
“We will have to coordinate with salvage crews including divers who will go through the boats,” Lyle said.
Marooned vessels were usually towed and refloated unless they were too badly damaged.