Sea foam at Westshore. Photo / Warren Buckland
People living in more than 500 homes evacuated from Hawke’s Bay’s coastlines over the weekend are being asked to stay away another night as Cyclone Vaianu bears down.
The fast-moving cyclone lay over Bay of Plenty by 4pm on Sunday afternoon and charting an expected course for Hawke’s Bay north of the twin cities.
Its earlier effects had so far been less than expected, with potential coastal inundation at high tide at 1pm on Sunday not eventuating.
Two highways had by 4.30pm been closed for the night.
State Highway 2 was closed from Wairoa to near Gisborne due to large fallen trees near Nūhaka.
A second state highway was also shut at 2.30pm, SH50 Breakwater Rd between the intersection with Hardinge Road and Coote Rd, due to the risk of rockfall from Bluff Hill.
These closures would remain in place until “at least” 8am on Monday morning following an engineering assessment, NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) said.
Crews monitoring the network had been hoping to clear trees as quickly as possible, however conditions were not conducive to working safely.
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi was getting reports of more trees falling, along with power lines in some areas causing concern.
“In all areas of the regions, please avoid unnecessary travel if you can or, if you do need to travel, take your time, be careful and drive to the conditions. With wind warnings in place, usual road closure signage may be too dangerous to install in some areas. Motorists should look out for a contractor’s vehicle blocking the road or other visible indicators that signal a road closure.”
In Central Hawke’s Bay, the end of Pourerere Beach Rd had shut due to a mandatory evacuation and the rural Farm Rd near Waipukurau was shut at 12.30pm due to a falling tree.
Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management said by 4pm there had been no reports of property damage.
“There have been isolated incidents of trees falling over and impacting roads but these have generally been cleared and not caused any significant damage or closures as yet.”
About 500 coastal homes were given the message to vacate by 5pm on Saturday – 202 in Haumoana, 176 in Te Awanga, 102 in Waimārama and about 20 in Ocean Beach.
Another 39 homes in Haumoana were being told to evacuate on Sunday morning after Civil Defence modelling of the cyclone’s impacts changed.
As of 1pm Sunday, there were 13 people sheltering at the Hastings Sports Centre, which had been prepared as an evacuation centre.
Hastings District Council said people who had been asked to evacuate their properties were strongly advised not to return on Sunday night.
The council warned that if evacuees did return and conditions worsened they may not be able to leave and emergency services may not be able to reach them.
People with properties outside the evacuation zone would be given access to their homes.
Mahanga, Westshore, Haumoana, Te Awanga, Karirakau and Pourerere were being assessed as the most exposed areas for coastal erosion and flooding in low-lying areas.
A local state of emergency was declared in many of the region’s coastal communities at 11.56am on Saturday.
On Saturday afternoon, an emergency alert was sent to people’s phones in coastal areas about 1pm.
It also popped up later on phones as, and when, an affected area of coastal Hawke’s Bay was entered by mobile phone users.
In Central Hawke’s Bay, coastal communities were at 11.30am on Sunday told to evacuate due to the potential for Cyclone Vaianu’s impacts to be “life threatening”.
Central Hawke’s Bay District Council said MetService had on Sunday morning issued an Orange Heavy Rain Warning for the coastal hills south of Cape Kidnappers.
“This could affect smaller streams and catchments towards the coast and impact the ability to get out later.
“The combination of damaging winds, the increased heavy rain and coastal inundation makes this a multi-hazard, potentially life-threatening event.
“The impacts associated with Cyclone Vaianu, are power outages, falling trees, flooding, slips and road closures.
“We are strongly advising people in coastal areas to evacuate now.
“It is likely that the roads and access will be affected, meaning emergency services will not be able to reach our coastal communities. It is possible we will not be able to open access for an extended period of time.”
Areas to evacuate immediately included Mangakuri, Kairākau, Pourerere, Aramoana/Shoal Bay, Blackhead and Whangaheu, but the area did not currently include Te Paerahi or Pōrangahau.
There was a Civil Defence Centre set up at St Peter’s Church, 52 Kenilworth Street, Waipawa, for impacted coastal communities and marae opened as community hubs in Poukawa, Waipawa and Pōrangahau
A localised state of emergency for the Central Hawke’s Bay coastal communities of Kairakau, Blackhead and Pourerere Beaches was declared by CHB Mayor Will Foley on Saturday.
Foley said on Sunday people in those areas should self-evacuate.
“Please do so now - come inland where it’s safer.”
People are being urged to stay home and stop sightseeing on the coast.
A windsurfer was seen out for a sail off the coast of Napier about 1pm on Sunday.
Police were called to Marine Parade about 25 minutes earlier as onlookers jumped the fence to the closed viewing platform, with video capturing them being splashed by waves.
Police said they received a request to check Marine Parade about 12.35pm.
“On attendance we found some spectators in the area who were given safety advice given the current warnings and advisories in place.
“For your safety, please avoid bodies of water, such as the ocean or rivers, while this weather event is ongoing.
“Police need to be able to focus on priority calls for service.
“Please heed any temporary fencing/warning signs and do not put yourself at risk.
“We urge members of the public to stay home unless advised otherwise by local authorities, or if you feel it is unsafe to do so.”
Coastguard Hawke’s Bay and skipper Matt Harvey was first alerted to the windsurfer about 12.45pm.
Harvey said callers to police and Napier City Council were worried the windsurfer was in trouble as they were falling off their board repeatedly and coming into shore only to be blown back out.
Knowing the weather was set to deteriorate, Harvey made the call to activate his crew go out and reach him.
But just as the boat was set to depart, Harvey learned that the windsurfer had made it back to shore south of the Westshore Surf Life Saving Club.
“I went around to have a conversation with him,” Harvey said.
The windsurfer told Harvey they were highly experienced.
“You can be the most experienced person in the world at something, that doesn’t mean it won’t go wrong.”
Harvey explained to the windsurfer that people had flooded 111 with calls during a state of emergency and that he’d dragged his crew away from their homes to come and save him.
“It’s what we’re here for, it’s what we do, but for someone to actually go and put themselves in that position to then put our crews in those situations is just not appreciated.”
He said two people were also seen on bodyboards in the Napier inner channel next to Perfume Point.
Harvey said the amount of people going near the water “for a photo” on Sunday was sad.
“If that one thing that they just cannot control goes wrong, the amount of emergency services that that puts at risk, it’s just incredible.”
Harvey said the Coastguard was pleading to people to please stay away from the water’s edge and out of the water.
“Our crew would like to stay home with their families too.”
Napier City Council said residents needed to stay off all beaches and coastal paths during the cyclone.
The council said people should not be surfing, swimming or fishing and they should avoid viewing waves from shorelines or exposed areas.
“These conditions can change quickly and become life-threatening without warning.”
As of 2pm, over 90 Air New Zealand turboprop services had been cancelled because of the wind, primarily across regional North Island airports.
Because of the ongoing adverse weather, Air New Zealand decided at 2pm to cancel all remaining services to and from Tauranga, Rotorua, Gisborne and Napier for the rest of Sunday.
“Impacted customers have been contacted directly,” Air New Zealand said.
Unison said at 1pm Sunday there were 583 customers without power across Napier and Hastings and 137 in Central Hawke’s Bay.
Unison said all outages were caused by adverse weather conditions.
An unplanned power outage hit 72 households Frimley in Hastings at about 10.45am on Sunday.
About 128 rural homes lost power just before 2am on Sunday in Te Onepu and Te Hauke and Poukawa.
Unison had managed to restore power to half of the homes by 8.30am, but around 64 remained without power at that time.
Trees had been reported down in some rural areas.
In Havelock North, a large tree fell over a driveway about 1pm, blocking a household in.
MetService’s orange strong wind warning remained in place from until 5am Monday for Hawke’s Bay and Taihape, but not Tararua.
Severe gale easterlies, especially about Mahia Peninsula, changing to severe gale northwesterlies Sunday afternoon or evening, gusting 130km/h in exposed places are predicted.
There was a moderate chance of the warning being upgraded to red.
MetService warned the wind could damage trees, powerlines and unsecured structures.
It also warned driving may be difficult, especially for high-sided vehicles and motorcycles.
An orange heavy rain warning was in place for the coastal hills of Central Hawke’s Bay south of Cape Kidnappers, as well as Wairarapa, to midnight on Sunday.
Between 70mm to 100mm of rain is expected about the coastal hills, with peak rates of 25mm to 40mm per hour possible in localised down pours on Sunday afternoon and evening.
MetService warned streams and rivers may rise rapidly, plus surface flooding, slips and difficult driving conditions possible.
A heavy rain watch was in place to 7pm Sunday, stretching from south of Tolaga Bay to north of Cape Kidnappers.