Civil Defence making plans to reach rural Whanganui quickly if significant weather event hits

The 2015 floods caused significant damage to the Whanganui River Road, cutting off communities. Photo / Stuart Munro

In the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle, Civil Defence is working on how best to tackle a similar situation in rural Whanganui.

Civil Defence intel function manager Kirsty Milham told a Whanganui Rural Community Board (WRCB) meeting that “pre-mapping” was under way to work out where communities could become isolated.

“Then, we are wanting to connect with those communities to understand what their likely needs would be, appreciating they will vary at different times and different seasons,” Milham said.

“It could be, in the case of large landholders, a single-house household. Or, say in Aberfeldy, it could be several households that are connected.”

Milham said people who lived in rural areas were used to living in an isolated way but there was “a point for everyone where human contact is essential”.

“Being able to tell people you’re okay, knowing your kids are okay, that is hugely important.”

Civil Defence already knew about the physical things that could cause a section of the rural community to become isolated, Milham said.

“We know where bridges are, we know where significant culverts are.

“There will be other things we don’t know. People who own farms know which hills go in these sorts of events - we can’t immediately tell that from a map.”

Milham’s report to the board said Cyclone Gabrielle resulted in a significant number of rural Hawke’s Bay, Wairoa and Gisborne residents being cut off from communication and towns.

“They were unable to access - or even communicate - their needs for food, petrol, farm supplies, medication and other necessities.

“Restoring road access to some of the more remote areas took several months. Even with significant military assistance, it took approximately a month for regular supply drops to be established.”

The report said while rural residents were generally well-prepared and resilient, even the best-prepared people had constraints on what they could store.

Whanganui District Council councillor Charlie Anderson said every weather event was different and he wasn’t sure how a plan could be made for one that hadn’t happened yet.

Milham said it was possible to work out the “most realistic worst-case scenario” and plan for that.

“You then ground-truth that when an event occurs and respond,” she said.

“It’s never a perfect solution. It doesn’t give you all the answers but it makes you a bit further along the journey than if you haven’t done the leg work now.”

Councillor Charlie Anderson says it is hard to plan for a weather event that hasn't happened yet. Photo / Bevan Conley

Ground-truthing refers to gathering information directly from a particular site.

Anderson said there was a “near disaster” during flooding in 2004 when WRCB chairman David Wells’ neighbour got swept away.

“It was only by luck we found him,” Anderson said.

“Communication is the biggest thing and that should be at the top of your list.”

Wells told the Chronicle his neighbour had been out in a jetboat when the incident occurred.

“He was cutting fences to try and let stock out of flooded areas.

“The telephone cable was still across the river and the river had got the cable. He didn’t see it. The cable flicked up and the boat overturned.”

The two occupants ended up in “an extremely flooded river” and had to grab hold of a poplar tree, Wells said.

“They spent the rest of the day in that tree. It was a reasonably warm day but they were wet so hypothermia became an issue.

“Nobody knew they were missing.”

Wells said his father located them and dialled 111, but no help came.

The pair was eventually picked up by a helicopter flown by Anderson.

“My father had put out a blue tarpaulin and when they started flying down the river, they spotted it.

“It could have been nasty.”

Milham’s report said following pre-mapping, the next step was understanding the approximate number of people in each potentially isolated area, including any significant seasonal fluctuations in numbers, and their essential needs.

Key farming and agriculture needs would also need to be captured, along with identifying the best places to drop supplies.

Wells told the board he was keen to organise a workshop on Civil Defence and figure out who should be involved.

Midwest Helicopters was on the list, along with Downer.

“The guy who was critical in 2015 [floods] was Blair [McPherson] from Downer. He knew where 42 diggers were and got them distributed within hours.”

Speaking to the Chronicle, Wells said he didn’t have a generator in 2004 but he did now.

He said he thought more people needed them and there were too many who would require help quickly after a significant weather event.

“They are not well enough organised to look after themselves for three or four days.

“These are issues we need to highlight and do something about.”

Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.