Cyclone Gabrielle: Napier flooding, emergency services still working to rescue trapped residents

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Emergency services are working frantically to rescue “multiple people that are trapped and require assistance” in flood-ravaged areas near Napier.

That includes the areas of Waiohiki and Puketapu, which border the flooded Tutaekuri River.

Evacuees parked up in Puketitiri Rd near Greenmeadows in Napier. Photo / Warren Buckland

Fire and Emergency NZ acting district manager Glen Vercoe said emergency services were using helicopters and boats to access stranded residents in that region.

It was hard to say how many people were stranded as the situation was evolving all the time, and more phone calls were coming in for help.

”There are multiple people that are trapped and require assistance,” he said.

However, he said there was no missing person reports at this stage.

Tree in Pirimai, Napier brought down by strong winds and heavy rain. Photo / Warren Buckland

During Tuesday morning, almost 30 people in Eskdale, north of Napier, had to be rescued including from roofs and vehicles cut off by flood waters. Helicopters and boats had to be deployed to rescue those residents.

Tree uprooted in Pirimai, Napier. Photo / Warren Buckland

Vercoe said emergency services were still going around properties in Eskdale to ensure all residents were safe and accounted for, but the flood waters had been subsiding in that area.

”We have not heard [at this stage] anything in terms of missing people,” he said, of that rescue. “We will be working with police to make sure everyone is accounted for.”

Waikare River Bridge collapse

A bridge about halfway between Napier and Wairoa on SH2 has been destroyed in wild floodwaters, as the full extent of damage to Hawke’s Bay roads is slowly being realised.

The Waikare River Bridge near Putorino collapsed on Tuesday morning following the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle.

The Waikare River Bridge near Putorino collapsed on Tuesday morning following the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / Rosie Tong

That major highway connects Napier with Wairoa and Gisborne.

A nearby resident said she saw the damage about 11am on Tuesday, but it likely happened much earlier in the morning. SH2 has been closed to motorists since Monday night.

It comes as another bridge between Napier and Hastings, Brookfields Bridge, was also washed away on Tuesday morning. A further five bridges around Napier and Hastings have been blocked off and deemed “impassable” by Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence.