Cyclone Gabrielle milestone: 627 Wairoa properties out of limbo amid $70M flood plan

A major milestone in Hawke’s Bay’s cyclone recovery has been reached with more than 600 properties in Wairoa moved out of limbo in a “good move forward for the town”.

Wairoa residents received letters this week informing them 627 properties had been moved from the 2A to 2C land category.

That means homeowners in the township have assurance they won’t be red-zoned in the future and can get on with rebuilding their homes.

The category change comes amid plans progressing for $70 million worth of flood protection in Wairoa for residents.

One Wairoa resident, still waiting for his flooded home to be fixed 14 months on from Cyclone Gabrielle, welcomed the news this week and says he has learned “nothing moves fast around here”.

Only Pōrangahau still has properties in the 2A category in Hawke’s Bay (numbering 138 properties).

The 2A category is best described as limbo - it is reserved for properties which don’t have adequate flood protection plans to mitigate risk to life.

Properties in 2A can be moved to unliveable Category 3 (red-zoned) in future or eventually shifted to the safe Category 1.

The 2C category means properties are on a pathway to Category 1, as adequate flood protection plans have been proposed.

“It is a good move forward for the town,” Hawke’s Bay Regional Council chief executive Nic Peet said, of Wairoa’s move to 2C.

“We work in Wairoa under a partnership called the tripartite agreement which includes ourselves, Tātau Tātau, and Wairoa District Council.”

Tātau Tātau is a post Te Tiriti o Waitangi settlement governance entity.

“I’m satisfied we have got some flood protection options [in Wairoa now],” Peet said.

Flooding in Wairoa after the river burst its banks last February due to heavy rain from Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo: Wairoa District Council

“We are at the stage of saying technically there are options but there is a community process to come yet to help us narrow down what the final design might look like.”

Flood design shortlist

He said they started with 18 flood protection options for Wairoa and had narrowed that down to a shortlist of “several” good options, which could include stopbanks or spillways.

Peet said the next step would be choosing a final design, in a process which was expected to be completed by mid-year.

That final design will then be sent to central Government as a business case for approval, as the Government has earmarked $70 million for flood protection in Wairoa.

“There is still a big job ahead,” he said. “Detailed design and exactly which option gets picked is still to come.”

He said “there is potential for some properties to be impacted” under the plans.

HBRC chief executive Nic Peet says a final design will likely be chosen by mid-year for Wairoa flood protection. Photo / NZME

When asked if that included land acquisition, Peet said it was more to do with council having legal permission to cross a person’s property to maintain the likes of a stopbank.

As for Pōrangahau, he said the next round of community engagement was next week and “I’d like to move them to 2C as quickly as we possibly can”.

Wairoa River weaves through the Wairoa township but has no man-made flood protection in place.

There were discussions about introducing measures to stop flooding after Cyclone Bola in 1988, but nothing eventuated.

The river again burst its banks and badly flooded the town during Cyclone Gabrielle on February 14 last year.

Resident waiting for house repairs slept in hammock for nine months

Wairoa resident Justin Maaka’s home was severely flooded.

Maaka spent nine months after the cyclone sleeping in a hammock he drilled into the wall of his flood-stricken home.

He has since moved into a portable cabin in his backyard, which he rents from Tātau Tātau, and can’t wait to see his home repaired in future.

Justin Maaka's family home was badly flooded in Wairoa. Photo / Supplied

He was glad to see properties like his being moved out of 2A, and agreed flood protection was needed on Wairoa River.

“That was good news,” he said. “[We need] somewhere for it to divert to.

“But I have come to terms that it is going to take a while. Nothing moves fast around here.”

Maaka works for Hookmade and has been helping strip other people’s homes, impacted by the floods, to get them ready for repair.

“Me and my bro were supposed to go back to the mines [in Australia] before the floods.

“But when that happened I told him ‘no, I think I’m supposed to be here and I am going to stay put’,” he said, of helping his community.

Maaka said he did not have the money to fix his own uninsured home but had been put on a list to receive some help.

“That would be brilliant. I’ve been waiting just over a year now. We got put in one list [for some help] and then onto another one,” he said.

“We have learned not to get our hopes up now and just sit back and see what happens.”

‘We have been under a bit of a cloud’: Tātau Tātau boss

Tātau Tātau chief executive Lewis Ratapu said some insurers did not release funds for rebuilds until a property had been moved from 2A to 2C, and the categorisation change would help a lot of people.

“It is great news for the whanau on that side [of Wairoa River] that were affected, they can finally start to plan to move ahead.

“We have been under a bit of a cloud.

“For us, it means progressing with helping people repair their homes, because we are coming into our second winter.”

He said a lot of homes were stripped of gib and some were not weather-tight.

Tātau Tātau has provided 74 cabins to flood-hit Wairoa residents which they rent out for $65 per week.

They have also been helping fix up uninsured and insured homes.

Ratapu said flood protection plans for Wairoa, in the long run, would have to consider addressing erosion in higher country, rather than simply building stopbanks along Wairoa River.

Gary Hamilton-Irvine is a Hawke’s Bay-based reporter who covers a range of news topics including business, councils, breaking news and cyclone recovery. He formerly worked at News Corp Australia.