Dozens of trained emergency service workers in Tairua and Pāuanui were joined by hundreds more “doers” in Cyclone Gabrielle to help those caught by road closures, power outages and floods.
Relative normality has returned and small businesses are hoping visitors know they are welcome after Tairua made national television news when roads left it temporarily cut off and without power for days.
On Friday, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency continued to advise people to only travel if necessary, to make it as easy as possible for essential goods and emergency services to access affected communities and avoid unnecessary congestion, which slows down repairs.
The Thames-Coromandel District Council advised holidaymakers and bach owners before the weekend to check available websites to ensure the roads were open and safe. ”We recognise that visitors are important to getting the heartbeat back into the local economy, but we also want everyone to be safe,” Civil Defence controller Garry Towler said.
Five days after the cyclone and with power, water and roads reinstated, one Tairua Airbnb operator said accommodation operators were having to accept cancellations despite roads reopening.
”The media spotlight on Tairua made out like it was a war zone here, which isn’t the case.”
Once floodwaters receded, multiple power outages across the district were the biggest problem and Powerco and other partner agencies prioritised getting power restored to Tairua and Pāuanui a few days after the cyclone.
Generators were at water treatment plants and water levels in reservoirs improved.
In the immediate aftermath, many locals also stepped up unasked.
Tairua locals Autumn Champion and Kacee Larsen cooked and delivered free hot meals for the Tairua fire brigade and hard-working Veolia water staff, along with anyone else who needed one from their My Thai food truck, set up in April last year.
“There’s nothing more rewarding than turning up at the house of a woman who’s 80-plus with no phone services and nobody checking on her for three days, and delivering a hot meal,” says Autumn.
“I said to this woman, ‘do you eat prawns?’ and her face lit up and her jaw dropped. On day two of the cyclone I realised there’d be people like that who would be feeling vulnerable as the days went on.”
Kacee and Autumn used a generator to cook with then delivered the food, which they had in stock - as well as some delivered by others in the town, who’d been asked to clear the freezers of bach owners unable to get to their homes.
Autumn’s sister Sharni - a single mum and volunteer firefighter - helped deliver the hot meals in between her emergency firefighting duties, while her friends cared for her children.
Image 1 of 23: Flooding in Coromandel. Photo / Supplied
Autumn and Sharni’s dad Brian Champion was among the chainsaw-wielding volunteers clearing trees from properties.
Tairua Superette owner Mitesh Patel kept his doors open when all else was closed, and the owner of fishing and diving shop Dutchy’s, Tim Simons, delivered camping and emergency essentials, including torches, to people in Tairua whose families had contacted him by Facebook.
“I think a lot of people were surprised by how serious it was, and many of them were quite unprepared. I had a lot of kids calling me asking me to deliver torches and batteries, and I got messages from people who have elderly family members in town, most of them pretty unorganised,” Tim said.
Reliance on cellphones rather than landlines was also problematic for communication when power and internet failed.
Amy Jane Todd and husband Steve Hughes, who live off the grid north of Tairua and have a Starlink satellite connection, responded to people outside Coromandel who were concerned about their elderly parents and others living in Tairua.
They took down about 20 names and addresses and Amy drove around to personally check on them, returning home to post updates to loved ones that all was okay.
Another resident in Paul Rd, north of Tairua, set up a solar panel outside the Two Tides bakery in town so people could charge their cellphones.
New World Whitianga used its nine-metre vessel Waka Kai to sail across the Coromandel region and deliver essential goods to communities with damaged roads and other infrastructure, prior to the roads being passable once again.
Areas included Ōpito Bay, Kuatotunu, Matarangi, Whangapoua, Kennedy Bay, Cooks Beach, Hāhei, Tairua and Pāuanui.
Foodstuffs North Island chief executive Chris Quin said the team worked with local authorities and community groups to identify areas in need of support, and to coordinate the delivery of goods to those who need them most.
Kerry Stanley, owner-operator of New World Whitianga, first introduced Waka Kai in 2019 as a summer offering to help locals and holidaymakers beat traffic. “After the cyclone, as soon as it became safe, I wanted to get Waka Kai out on the water to check people were ok and to help resupply our cut-off communities.
“To give you an idea, there’s about 500 people who live at Cooks Beach which is just 3km from Whitianga by sea, compared to 35km of road that’s now full of slips. Our first day was quite emotional and challenging. We had debris to get through and were the first people from the ‘outside world’ some of these communities had seen or heard from for four days.”
“They don’t have any internet access so we’ve basically going back to pen and paper orders. We’ve also had customers who don’t know they’re getting orders because they’ve got family members who’ve ordered for them. Customers have been very grateful for the service and of course our deliveries have been free of charge.”
A temporary welfare centre was set up at the Pāuanui Sports and Recreation Club with generators supplied by the Pāuanui Volunteer Fire Brigade and Pāuanui Tairua Trial event, offering shelter until it was no longer required.
Volunteers leading the civil defence efforts in Pāuanui said the community were amazing in the response, including Mercure Grand Puka Park providing hot meals to volunteers.
Thames-Coromandel Mayor Len Salt said more than 150 personnel from around the district were part of civil defence efforts: “I’ve never been more proud of our people, or more grateful for their selfless contributions,” he said upon witnessing the morning briefing last Wednesday.
“Cyclone Gabrielle has been tough for everybody in our district. It followed five weeks of severe storm events and record-breaking rain,” said the mayor.
He said the council’s emergency roading budget was wiped out in the November storm and he’d urged the Government for urgent assistance with the roading subsidy and support.
“We’re resourceful people in the Coromandel, but the longer-term effects are what have our council concerned.”
The Coromandel’s economic and social well-being depended on reliable access to services and amenities and three Cabinet Ministers visiting in the last three weeks had got that message “in the strongest possible terms”.
There are no new road closures and many Coromandel roads are now open, with challenging conditions in places with slips and debris not completely cleared requiring traffic management, one-lane and speed restrictions in places.
Tairua-Pāuanui and Whangamatā had no closures.
Tapu-Coroglen Rd is closed and impassable for the foreseeable future and multiple roads in northern Coromandel were still closed. As of Monday February 20, Colville Rd is closed in several places due to overslips and dropouts and would remain closed for some time.
Port Jackson Rd is closed at Otautu Wharf Rd due to multiple large slips and dropouts. The road will remain closed for some time.
Conserve water notices issued have now been lifted. Kerbside services have resumed as normal.
Foodstuffs' North Island Chris Quin, CEO, updates the media on the fire at New World Victoria Park.