In a heartfelt and emotional moment in court, a Hawke’s Bay firefighter has apologised to victims’ families for failing to rescue their loved ones in time during Cyclone Gabrielle.
Glen Varcoe, the Hawke’s Bay district commander for Fire and Emergency NewZealand, was the response co-ordinator during the cyclone. He is giving evidence at the inquest into the deaths of 19 people as a result of Cyclone Gabrielle and the Auckland Anniversary floods.
Thirteen of the deaths were in Hawke’s Bay, from causes including drowning, landslides, hypothermia and a lack of oxygen.
Varcoe was in tears as he apologised to all the families on behalf of himself and his crews who tried to rescue people, but could not reach them.
“I just want to say sorry we weren’t able to get to your loved ones in time and help.
“That feeling of hopelessness, that we could have done and should have done more has had an impact on us all ... but it can’t have as much of an impact as it continues to have on those families.”
The aftermath of massive flooding that swept through the Esk Valley during Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / RNZ, Sally Murphy
The court saw emails between Fire and Emergency and a council hydrologist about the Esk River reaching a record level about 2am on February 14, at which point no evacuation orders had been made.
Another email, just minutes later, discussed the possibility of declaring an emergency in Esk Valley, so that an Emergency Mobile Alert (EMA) could be sent to residents to get them out of harm’s way.
That alert was not issued by Civil Defence until 5.19am, by which time two people had already drowned in the area: 2-year-old Ivy Collins and Susane Caccioppoli.
As dawn broke on February 14, it revealed floodwaters and debris filling the entire Esk Valley.
Varcoe told the court that at about 3am, two firefighters and two Defence Force staff tried to evacuate homes in Esk Valley in an army truck.
However, when they tried to drive up State Highway 5, the water was washing over the bonnet.
“It was considered too dangerous for them to try and go further.”
He was questioned by the coroner’s lawyer, Nick Whittington, about the delay from Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence in declaring an emergency, after learning at 2.31am that the Esk River had reached record levels and was still rising.
“Why ... does it then take until 4.04am, another 75 minutes, before there is a declaration made?” Whittington asked.
“I have no knowledge of that ... it’s best answered by Mr Botherway,” Varcoe said.
Bruce Botherway is a Fire and Emergency senior station officer in Hawke’s Bay.
Varcoe explained that, throughout the night of February 13 and 14, fire crews were receiving numerous reports of people trapped in floodwaters or slips, but much of the region’s road access was cut off by floods, landslides and washed-out bridges.
He said Fire and Emergency could not safely deploy helicopters or boats at night.
“It was a terrible situation that we couldn’t get to that area before daylight.”
There was a huge backlog of 111 calls from people wanting to be rescued, and more callout requests than crews could respond to.
“We could see the huge emotional toll it was taking on our local brigades ... they felt hopeless not being able to get to members of the community who needed help. It really impacted them,” Varcoe said.
He became emotional as he acknowledged everyone who lost loved ones during the cyclone.
“I want to give our sincerest apologies and sympathy for your losses and apologise again for not being able to do more.
