Cyclone Gabrielle eldest victim: Heartbreak for family of Hawke’s Bay’s Helen Street

Cyclone Gabrielle victim battled heart failure and needed supplied oxygen for survival. Neil Reid reports.

The family of the oldest victim of Cyclone Gabrielle is desperate for answers over the death of their beloved mum, grandmother and great-grandmother who they believe died after her lifesaving oxygen was rationed during the storm.

Helen Street - aged 86 - is one of 11 people police have listed as fatalities linked to the destructive Cyclone Gabrielle, which hammered parts of the North Island last month.

Street died at the house she shared with her second husband in the Napier suburb of Onekawa - an area that was not hit by the flood waters that left a path of devastation in multiple settlements on the outskirts of Napier and Hastings.

Remembered by one of her six surviving children as “well-liked and well-known”, she died early on February 16, more than two days after the cyclone had made its way to Hawke’s Bay after battering Northland, Auckland, Coromandel, Bay of Plenty, East Coast and Poverty Bay.

Street suffered from heart failure and was dependent on an oxygen machine at home - which was run via electricity - and oxygen tanks when out and about.

Police confirmed earlier this month that they had referred her death to the Coroner.

Helen Street tragically died at her house in the Napier suburb of Onekawa when Cyclone Gabrielle hit.

Daughter Glenys Sandoval has told the Herald correspondence she had seen via NZ Police indicated that Street was rationing her tank oxygen – which did not require electricity - in the days leading up to her death.

Street had been given a large oxygen tank in the days leading up to Cyclone Gabrielle striking in case electricity was cut to her home, which would mean her oxygen machine wouldn’t work. Onekawa was part of Napier which eventually lost power for several days due to storm damage.

The family were desperate to know on what advice, and from whom, that decision had been made to ration the oxygen.

“Clearly, she has been put down as a victim of the cyclone because mum was on home oxygen, which requires electricity,” Sandoval said.

“Mum was on oxygen 24 hours a day. How do you ration that?”

Sandoval said she believed it was turned off and given to her on half-hour bursts and not given to her at night “when she is lying down when she needs it. That had gone on for some days”.

Sandoval believed the death was down to oxygen being rationed.

“But why that happened is the answer we are needing.”

Cyclone Gabrielle victim Helen Street died in her house in Foster Terrace, Onekawa, on February 16. Photo / Neil Reid

The family has been told the coronial process could take between 12-18 months.

Street needed access to oxygen-providing equipment at all times. If the family took her to shops or a cafe she would need to take an oxygen cylinder with her.

The Herald was unable to contact Street’s husband or his family.

Sandoval – who was preparing to travel to America for work - last spoke to her mother on the night of Tuesday, February 14, as the nation slowly learned about the level of destruction in Hawke’s Bay. The province was effectively cut off from the rest of New Zealand because of power and phone outages, and main travel routes were washed away.

“She had rung to say ‘have a good trip’ and I said, ‘Don’t be silly, Mum, I will talk to you before I go’. But of course, I never did,” she recalled.

The next day was Sandoval’s birthday.

Tragically, she received a phone call early on Thursday, February 16, to say her beloved mum had died.

Her mum died two days before Sandoval – a nurse - was due to fly to a medical conference with a patient. Despite the heartbreaking loss, she still travelled to the US.

Street was diagnosed with heart failure and forced to go on supplied oxygen several years ago.

Cyclone Gabrielle victim Helen Street - one of 11 people to tragically die - was dependent on supplied oxygen either via a tank or an electricity-powered machine.

Last year she fell while out shopping and fractured her hip.

“They [her doctors] didn’t think she would survive that because of her heart,” Sandoval said.

After a mishap during surgery, Sandoval said she was even more surprised that she had lived.

“They said she would have to go into rest home care, but she never did,” she said of her mum’s determination.

“She got hold of Driving Miss Daisy and went home. She was a strong, strong lady. She knew what she wanted and there was no way she wanted to go into a rest home.”

The Napier suburb of Onekawa did not suffer major flooding during Cyclone Gabrielle's battering. Photo / Neil Reid

Street was born and bred in Hastings.

She outlived her three sisters.

She married in the 1950s and had seven children, one of who was tragically stillborn.

“She had it pretty rough back in the 60s with the loss of a child and the hardships of life,” Sandoval said.

Street moved to Napier about 20 years ago and lived in the Onekawa home she died in for about 15 years.

“She was a very onto it mum. She knew exactly what was going on and didn’t have any confusion. She was very sharp,” Sandoval said.

“Mum had many friends. If you went out with Mum you would never get home quickly. She would stop and talk to people; she was well-liked and well-known.”

She had six surviving children - Jean Carson, Joseph Lloyd, Glenys Sandoval, Brenda Dunnett, Alan Lloyd and Teresa Hilliard – and “many grandchildren and great-grandchildren”.

“And they all loved her and she loved them,” Sandoval said.

One of her grandchildren, Amelia Dunnett, said Street was a loving grandma who cherished her whole family.

“She was a strong woman and never complained,” Amelia Dunnett said.

“She was always too worried about how everyone else was doing, especially her family. We will all miss her wicked sense of humour and love, and how special made us all feel.”