Regarding the looting, Kelleher said: “To be going out and doing that to be people already in a state of high emotional distress is just wrong, and the other side of it is those buildings are dangerous - nobody should be in them.”
Slip fears
Auckland Council head of engineering resilience Ross Roberts said rain expected today wouldn’t create new landslides, but could “reactivate” existing slips.
He said slips could continue moving for “some time” - and compared this to aftershocks following earthquakes as the land settled.
Roberts said it would take time to properly assess how stable the ground was to understand the risk of further slips.
Two hundred and fifteen buildings in Auckland have been red stickered since Cyclone Gabrielle and 269 have been yellow stickered.
The update comes as the first of two Auckland casualties, volunteer firefighter Dave van Zwanenberg who died caught in a slip while assessing a house in Muriwai, is laid to rest this afternoon.
STORY CONTINUES AFTER LIVE BLOG
STORY CONTINUES
United North Piha Lifeguard Services chair Robert Ferguson told the Herald the incident had added stress to an already difficult situation.
“Piha has been decimated by the floods. We haven’t got a surf club, we are working out of a small area where we camp. That too is flooded, it’s inundated with silt. This just makes it hard for everyone.
“It is not fun anymore,” Ferguson said.
The equipment was expensive and each radio cost $1200; 17 of them were stolen.
“We have insurance but we would still have to pay an excess of $2500. Several weeks ago we had a double drowning in which a lot of people were involved. Our beach is very big we rely on radios to communicate.
“Building up supplies takes time. We are going to loan some equipment from other clubs for now.”
The Portacom was set up behind the community hall, and a local resident alerted the club to the robbery, Ferguson said.
“It is so inconvenient.
“All we need to do is help the community but for someone to do this, it’s just unfathomable.
“As soon as they turn them on we will be alerted, it has GPS, it is of no use to them. We just hope they drop them off at a police station or hand them back to us.”
A Givealittle page will be set up to cover the excess costs, Ferguson said.
United North Piha Surf Lifesaving service director of lifesaving Victoria Mulrennan said that the club was incredibly sad and angry at the theft, which she said was opportunistic and mean-spirited given the community was still recovering from the devastating impact of Cyclone Gabrielle.
“These radios are vital pieces of emergency equipment, allowing our lifeguards to communicate with each other during not only day-to-day operations but time-critical rescues and emergency response to events like Cyclone Gabrielle.
“This is a nasty, gutless act. We are still trying to respond to the impact of the cyclone, and these thieves have put lives at risk, at a time where Piha is already struggling. Our community is still largely cut off, and we want to put our focus on recovery efforts. Without these radios, our ability to operate patrols is severely limited.”
The club had earlier posted on social media expressing anger and distress over the burglary.
“By stealing this equipment these thieves have put lives at risk”, the club said in a Facebook post.
Surf Life Saving Northern Region chief executive Matt Williams said that, while there had been many things Surf Life Saving had chosen not to get upset or angry about this summer, it was hard to look past this.
“One would hope the thieves were unaware that not only were they targeting struggling communities, but the services supporting those communities. We are dismayed that someone would target Piha at a time like this.
“To steal equipment used to save lives really highlights the circumstances and desperation of these individuals. This isn’t just a theft from the club, it’s a theft from the entire community.”
The lifeguard service said they were hopeful of the stolen equipment’s safe return.
The incident has come as a blow to an already vulnerable West Auckland beach community.
Cyclone Gabrielle had forced many residents to leave their homes in a hurry to seek safe shelter for days while the land beneath remained unstable.
Multiple subsequent landslides have caused huge losses, causing houses to fall off cliffs, or collapse under the rubble.
Contact the newsroom at newsdesk@nzherald.co.nz
