Flooded farmland at Tolaga Bay after Cyclone Gabrielle.
The government inquiry into the severe weather events of 2023 has praised the Gisborne District Council for its established processes and relationships relied upon during cyclones Hale and Gabrielle.
The inquiry looked at the two cyclones and the Auckland Anniversary floods, criticised some other councils and found the country’s emergency management system was “not fit for purpose”.
But Mayor Rehette Stoltz said in a statement the council welcomed the report and it included some “good examples and learnings” from Tairāwhiti.
The mayor said the importance of relationships was strongly stressed.
“It highlighted how connected we all are (in Tairāwhiti) with existing relationships and systems already in place.
“When our region was cut off for almost a week, we all relied on each other.
“Radio and satellite phones became the only means of contact other than face-to-face.
“We welcome the acknowledgment in this report for the well-established and embedded emergency management processes we have in place for severe weather events.“
The report said members of the Tairāwhiti co-ordinating executive group (CEG) knew each other well and were used to working together, making it easier for leaders and their teams to be effective, even when communications systems were compromised.
“The Tairāwhiti CEG is an example of the benefit of role-clarity, strong relationships, candid conversations and a strong knowledge of local communities.
“It has a wide range of discretionary members including iwi, chief executives, and officials from the harbourmaster, Kāinga Ora, and Ministry of Social Development.
“The strong relationships built before the event were particularly important given the many intersecting roles of the CEG members during an emergency,” the report said.
The report said Tairāwhiti was one of the areas where pre-developed plans and processes were implemented, tools were used to build effective situational awareness, and experience was drawn from previous events and exercises.
The report said that even if the recommendations were fully implemented, that alone would not result in a fit-for-purpose emergency management system.
“Without adequate investment in risk-reduction and readiness, the impacts of disasters will continue to be devastating,” the reportsaid.
Council chief executive Nedine Thatcher Swann said a change was needed to the funding model to improve investment in the emergency sector’s capability and capacity as recommended in this report.
“Our primary source of funding for Civil Defence in our region is through the rates we collect.
“Rate funding alone limits the ability for councils across the sector to invest sufficiently as we will always be burdened by balancing multiple activities and affordability.”
Thatcher Swann said the report, and one by consultant and former police commissioner Mike Bush into Hawke’s Bay response, would be considered by the co-ordinating executive group and lessons learned would be acted upon.
Tairāwhiti and Bay of Plenty councils were also acknowledged for their experienced civil defence emergency management groups.
Tairawhiti emergency management group controller Ben Green said the report (and previous reviews) had consistent themes that come through.
“Tairāwhiti has well-tested systems and processes given the significant number of operational events we have responded to.
“There will always be areas for improvement, however, regional leadership comes to the fore when dealing with events of this scale.”
Green said what was vital was that leadership and collaboration applied across the whole region and all agencies and entities that align to a common focus.
“The current settled phase of weather we are in now focuses on readiness; working directly with community groups connecting whānau to hazards with the simple message of be prepared, have a plan and a grab bag that can sustain you for 48 hours should you need to evacuate to survive.
“There are some systems and processes the report seeks to highlight as gaps.
“However, our team has a number of operational systems that are an exemplar with some being adopted for national use.
“We’ve been very active in addressing the operational gaps since last year and this continues.
“Given the operational experience the team has, we have hosted several external engagements with other regions that seek to get an insight into how we do business.”
Former Ngāti Porou chairman Sir Selwyn Parata told the severe weather inquiry that iwi should lead the response to Cyclone Gabrielle-type disasters in their community.
Such a system made sense for everyone, regardless of culture.
Events such as Cyclone Gabrielle needed leaders, he said.
“We have a responsibility to look after our people and those that live among us in an emergency,” he said.
“We should be given the authority to do so.
“Gisborne Civil Defence and district council don’t have the resources or outreach to provide sufficient support to the Coast.”
He said it was notable in Tairāwhiti that support was galvanised from outside the region, with iwi and whānau relationships leveraged from across the country.
In Ruatōria, people put together a list of what was needed and, between intermittent communication outages, texted photos of the list to whānau in Wellington.
This was sent to whānau, iwi and whanaunga (relatives) across the country who sourced or bought the supplies.
The community also co-ordinated its own transport and logistics to get the supplies to Ruatōria.
The inquiry was told the required items reached people quickly and efficiently without bureaucratic hurdles.
Parata said Ngāti Porou mobilised quickly during Cyclone Gabrielle.
The iwi activated emergency hubs based with key marae and co-ordinated the efforts of local civil defence teams across their rohe.
Ngāti Porou farming and fishing entities provided food, essential supply lines, and outreach to iwi across New Zealand.
Their efforts included organising Starlink internet access to ensure communication could continue, and arranging for a credit system so people could access goods when Eftpos facilities were down, he said.
Firefighters responded shortly before 9am on Friday.