Coronial inquest into deaths in Cyclone Gabrielle, Auckland flooding will hurt; hopefully it will also help - Editorial

Flooding in Eskdale, Hawke's Bay, during Cyclone Gabrielle.

Editorial

The beginning of a coronial inquest into deaths in two major North Island weather events - the Auckland anniversary storm and Cyclone Gabrielle - is a good time to take stock.

Nineteen lives are thought to have been lost in the immediate and long-term aftermath of the deluges under a month apart in January and February 2023.

The first major revelation at the inquest was that MetService consulted Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s hydrology team about whether to put Hawke’s Bay into a red warning two days ahead of Cyclone Gabrielle’s arrival in the region.

MetService told the inquest they felt as though those hydrologists didn’t have significant concerns about the potential effects of the impending ex-tropical cyclone, and they were influenced by that.

In hindsight, they should have relied on their gut feel and could have put the red warning out 24 hours earlier for Hawke’s Bay, they said.

It’s an about-face that will hurt in Hawke’s Bay, not just for those who lost loved ones, but also for the hundreds who still feel the trauma of what they endured, camped on and under their rooftops that day.

All of New Zealand was warned that Cyclone Gabrielle was set to hit the country hard.

But with red warnings established relatively promptly in places like Northland, Auckland, Bay of Plenty and Gisborne, the Hawke’s Bay region barely rated a mention in the national conversation in the lead-up.

It meant instead of preparing to evacuate river valleys, people were buying gumboots.

The red warning eventually came on the afternoon of February 13, roughly 12 hours before the biggest deluges.

There may well have been people who would have taken the time to pack up and find alternative accommodation earlier, but by the time the red warning arrived had committed to where they would be that night and decided to try to ride it out.

As MetService noted, it’s always easy to look back in hindsight and think “what if?”.

There will be much more to be gleaned over the next few months, and likely many more “what if?” moments.

The coronial inquest will move from Auckland to Hawke’s Bay in October, where both Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence and Emergency Management and Hawke’s Bay Regional Council will share their perspectives on what was happening in the days before.

Most importantly, the inquest will also give families who have suffered tragedy the chance to share their understanding of what happened, and what needs to happen to prevent anyone else from going through what they have.

It’s important for New Zealand to stop for that, to listen.

Sign up to the Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.