Anxiety, anger, laughter and tears were all on show in a panorama of human emotions as shell-shocked Aucklanders attempted to shovel as much free sand into their vehicles so they could buffer their homes from the approaching Cyclone Gabrielle.
Bordering on chaotic, the scene at a car park just outside Westgate shopping complex yesterday encapsulated the nervous mood of many of the worst-hit residents in the West Auckland region from the January 27 floods.
The sandbag station on Westgate Drive had been set up overnight by Fulton Hogan at the request of Auckland Council and began the day at 7am with six truck-trailer loads of sand and 30,000 sandbags. By midday they were out of sandbags and members of the public were using rubbish bags and whatever else they could find to carry sand.
It was one of several sandbag stations set up across Auckland yesterday, as the category three Cyclone Gabrielle is forecast to hit the city today.
Just across the road, the Westgate shopping complex had a tense energy in the packed car park. The Countdown supermarket there had long lines weaving through the aisles, and the toilet paper section had been seriously depleted - despite repeated calls for people to avoid panic buying. Across the city, the Grey Lynn Countdown was out of bottled water at one point in the morning.
Fulton Hogan divisional manager for traffic management Darren Gillard said some people had been waiting two hours in their car to get to get sandbags and were often quite upset when they finally found that they had run out of the bags and only had sand.
“It’s been really busy. We ran out of bags about an hour ago. People have been quite disappointed obviously because they’ve been waiting for a long time,” Gillard said.
“Some of them have been quite emotional and understandably so. We’re looking for some more bags at the moment and we’re expecting another delivery of sand soon, so that shouldn’t be too far off.”
Andria Fletcher was getting sand for her house that was almost flooded two weeks ago and was disappointed by the bag shortage.
“We waited 30 minutes coming down the road and when we got to the actual area they said, ‘oh, we’re sorry we haven’t got any bags. So if you want to go and buy some bags you can come back’. But it’s pretty poor, ” Fletcher said.
“If they’d made an announcement people would already know. Yeah, I am [anxious ahead of the cyclone]. I was feeling all right but I think after having that emergency thing go out and I think the mayor’s been pretty poor. People were just so stressed. I don’t think it’s necessary really. If we all looked after each other, not panic buying. I mean you can’t get in the supermarket. It’s pretty sad, really.”
The Auckland Emergency Management pop-up support hub in Henderson was also bustling yesterday morning and has been for two weeks since the city’s fatal record-breaking downpour.
Dozens of people sit out the front waiting for assistance and community trust chair Will Ward said they have been seeing many hundreds of people seeking support each day. The centre is primarily run by volunteers but there is also a large presence from the Ministry of Social Development.
Last night the emergency centre had 12 people living on site whose homes were left uninhabitable from the floods a fortnight ago.
“Numbers are increasing exponentially each day,” said Ward. “We’ve been open for two weeks. There’s a lot of anxiety from people coming in for food, clothes.”
Ward said the council and community volunteers from the Henderson Civil Defence Centre were meeting Auckland Council yesterday morning to discuss the contingency measures for when the cyclone hits. Whether they should be staying on-site if the storm hits hard was set to be discussed.
Also in regular correspondence and visiting the site is the assistant for Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni.
Among those at the centre was Manu, a mother from Manakau, who has 15 people living in her house.
She had a shopping trolley of supplies she was packing into her car after visiting the centre and had also dropped other family living at her house at the Henderson centre to get support from MSD.
Manu’s family’s house flooded two weeks ago and she said she was “scared” at the prospect of Cyclone Gabrielle hitting today.
Manu said “it’s hard” having so many people under one roof with the brutal weather that has kept everyone largely indoors for the past few weeks. Her husband has been busy fixing the drains on the house in the hope they will not be flooded again like two weeks ago.
Aucklanders were also descending on supermarkets en masse yesterday morning to stock up on essentials.
Photos posted to social media showed long queues at all tills and the car park full at Pak’nSave Wairau Rd, which only recently reopened after floods devastated the store late last month.
Rose Rasmussen told the Herald she was lucky to get a parking spot and shoppers faced a long wait, adding that the store was “crazy busy” with queues for checkouts going through the store.
A video showed a full car park with others waiting to get in.
Queues were also long at nearby Countdown with bottled water, toilet paper, fruit, veges and frozen chicken the obvious trolley essentials.
Supermarket bosses said there was plenty of stock and asked shoppers to buy only what they needed.
“Our stores, support centre, and distribution teams are preparing in readiness for what tropical Cyclone Gabrielle brings,” said Foodstuffs spokesperson Emma Wooster.
“We have well-honed and practiced business continuity plans and processes, our supply chain is robust and we have stock on hand to ensure there is enough for everyone.”
Wooster urged people to consider others when shopping.
“Please shop only for what you’ll need, this will help make sure everyone gets their fair share when they come to the store.”
Countdown’s managing director Spencer Sonn told the Herald on Friday night that North Island stores were a priority and supplies were being transported to more isolated sites.
Hundreds of cartons of essential supplies were already en route ahead of the weekend rush.
“We’re well practised in making sure Kiwis can get the essentials they need in all sorts of different scenarios, from pandemics to natural disasters, and we’ve been working to make sure we’re prepared for any impact from Cyclone Gabrielle, for a few days now,” he said.
They allege the Crown ignored Treaty obligations by not engaging with them.