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Two houses have been red-stickered and 14 yellow stickered in Gisborne due to the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle while the region battles critical water shortage.
Records for river levels across the district have tumbled, with the Waipaoa River peaking at 12.8 metres, the highest since records began; the Waiapu at 8m and the Te Arai at 4.9m.
The Hikuwai River was at an unprecedented 14.8m. The river peaked at 13m during Cyclone Bola.
Over Sunday and Monday, Cyclone Gabrielle brought 547mm of rain to Raparapaririki (Waiapu) the highest in the district, and 500mm to Mangapoike, which was by the water supply dam.
Tairāwhiti Civil Defence controller Ben Green said they were yet to get a full oversight of the impact of the storm event but to the best of their knowledge, there had been no flood-related injuries or deaths.
The roading network was awash with silt and significantly damaged in some parts.
Green asked people to stay off the roads to keep them clear for emergency services
“Please don’t drive around rubbernecking,” he said.
Green said residents should check around their properties for any unusual cracks, doors or window frames that were sticking, subsidence, and new cracks or bulges on the ground.
“It is sodden out there and we ask that people are vigilant. Check your properties and report any anomalies to council.”
Two properties had been red-stickered and 14 yellow-stickered, Green said.
“As more homes are inspected, the numbers are expected to increase. Council inspections will continue and it is expected the numbers to grow.”
Some supermarkets would open today in a controlled way to ensure there was enough for all, Green said.
“Please only buy what you need to ensure there is enough for everyone while our retailers work to replenish their stores.”
“Petrol stations are also hoping to open and we will be prioritising fuel for emergency services. We are working to get roading access restored into the region.”
All schools, kura and early learning centres on the reticulated water supply were closed due to the critical water situation, Green said.
“This will be reviewed on Monday.
“Chorus is traversing some extremely tough terrain to identify where the breaks are in the fibre optic cable to restore internet access to the region.
“At this point, it is believed there are multiple breaks in the cable and the priority is restoring the cable to the south.
“Until it is fixed, the region continues to have no Eftpos or PayWave facilities, ATMs are out of order, there is no internet or cell phone connectivity, with some businesses unable to operate.”
Gisborne connectivity up and running at the airport with a small cell mobile solution on a scissor lift! pic.twitter.com/z7OdxLnKcs
— Jason Paris (@JasonCParis) February 15, 2023
Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty said Spark and Vodafone were taking connection supplies to Gisborne today through a chopper.
He was hopeful they would be able to re-establish a connection as soon as possible.
McAnulty said he had spoken to the mayors of affected areas including Gisborne.
Power had been restored to most of Gisborne. Military planes were set to deliver essential supplies, but concerns about the water supply remained, he said.
Some parts of the region remain without power but Eastland Network had prioritised getting as many households reconnected as quickly as possible, Green said.
“The crews are out assessing the rest of the network to make plans for restoration. The biggest challenge for them is access on a very compromised roading network.”
Gisborne Mayor Rehette Stoltz told the Herald this morning the region was still cut off. All roads in and out were closed and there was no communication or internet connection.
Stoltz said she had been communicating with the Government through satellite and Starlink.
“Organisations are working hard to get us connected,” Stoltz said.
She said the urgent message that needed to be sent out in the community in Gisborne was to “conserve water”.
“We are delivering 22,000 Gisborne Herald newspapers to people in town because we have an urgent message to get across. There is a water crisis and the community needs to urgently conserve water. The main pipeline will take months to fix.”
Stoltz said the alternative Waipaoa plant would only give the community a quarter of the water they usually get.
She had been able to get information from up on the coast through road crews and Civil Defence teams set there, Stoltz said.
“We know there are currently 200 people in evacuation centres. The weather is getting better so we will have a clearer picture of the damage.”
Yesterday, both bridges in the town were closed to clear the woody debris underneath, Stoltz said.
To people outside Tairāwhiti, she said: “We know it’s tough that you can’t touch base with whānau and friends here, we are working tirelessly to connect them back and as far as we know people are safe at home.”
Tairāwhiti Civil Defence has also issued a warning to residents in Gisborne city this morning that if they don’t save water now, their taps would run dry.
There were multiple breaks in the pipe supplying the city and there was no quick fix to resolve the problem.
“This is a significant crisis for our city. The only treated water we have now is the limited amount in the reservoirs,” they said.
“You need to reduce water use or some homes will have no water. Only use tap water for drinking, food preparation and hygiene - no outside water use.
“A reminder to turn off your irrigation system and not wash your car.”
Civil Defence pleaded with those who had flooded homes and wanted to clean up to not use hoses or water blasters.
Council had been working on options to make untreated water available to people needing to clean up silt, they said.
“There is plenty of water in the Mangapoike dams but due to multiple breaks in the pipe, it can’t get to the city reservoirs.
“The water treatment plant at Waipaoa is being geared up to supply the city. But it takes time to treat the water so that it meets the New Zealand Drinking Water Standards. It also takes longer to treat water at Waipaoa than it does at Waingake,” Tairāwhiti Civil Defence said on social media.
Water restrictions also applied to industry users, they said, and the big water users had been contacted and advised of the situation.
A Tolaga Bay man is heartbroken after Cyclone Gabrielle destroyed his beloved family farm.
Joe Warburton’s farm on Tauwhareparae Rd in Tolaga Bay is covered in silt after the recent storm.
Warburton, his wife and three children are in the evacuation centre at Tolaga Bay Area School where the internet is available through Starlink.
The region’s communications remain down and power is out in most of the district.
“Our garden, paddocks and our citrus orchard are all under thick silt and smashed with forestry slash,” Warburton told the Herald.
“It’s so heartbreaking and depressing. Our stock has no grass and our fences are gone.”
Pumpkin crops had also been damaged, Warburton said.
“We have no idea of how much we have lost. We can’t even go down there to check on our orchard, the silt is too deep.
“Animals are okay. We kept only three on the farm because we knew the storm was coming.”
Warburton said his wife, who looked after the farm, was “barely holding it together”.
“We are just running on adrenaline. The farm is very special to us.”
He had not received help to get the farm back in shape yet, Warburton said.
Te Akau o Tokomaru Civil Defence co-ordinator Liliian Te Hau-Ward said they were still isolated but compared to Tolaga Bay and Hastings, “we have dodged a bullet”.
Four firefighters from Fire and Emergency New Zealand South Island had come to the coast on Sunday and had been helping whānau on the ground.
“They had Starlink so we are able to tap into that for communications,” Te Hau-Ward said.
“Power and communication are still out. These men are flying out to Napier and Hastings to assist but are leaving the generator and Starlink for us.”
There was no access to fuel and the team was using hand pumps for road crews, Te Hau-Ward said.
“Our main bridge dropped out last night and we have contractors pushing there. The challenge is, where do they go after that? They have to get to the other side of the river but then there is no access out.
“One roading team was pushing down from Te Puia Springs towards Tokomaru Bay so the town had access to the hospital.”
Te Hau-Ward said a nurse from Ngāti Porou Hauora arrived in town on Friday.
Two patients had to be airlifted this morning because they desperately needed dialysis, she said.
The main routes in and out of the region, SH2 Gisborne to Ōpōtiki and SH35 Gisborne to Hicks Bay, remain closed.
Local residents and engineers in Tutira in rural Hawkes Bay are trying to clear SH2 after it was destroyed by Cyclone Gabrielle.
Resident Rosie Tong said the part of the road between Napier and Wairoa would be closed for weeks.
“We are trying to think of what alternative routes there are because obviously the rest of the country is like this too so we will be trying to do what we can ourselves to get through.”
At this stage, they only had one tractor to clear the path for traffic.
Tong said a majority of people in Tutira were okay and in good spirits.
“A few are stuck up on the side of roads so we can’t reach them, sadly one lady is missing in Tutira/Putorino area, very close suburbs.”
They allege the Crown ignored Treaty obligations by not engaging with them.