The welfare centre at House of Breakthrough was on standby in case of evacuations in the city. The centre opened after a call at 3.45am and three people self-evacuated because they felt unsafe. They had left by 8am. Photo / Gisborne Herald
The welfare centre at House of Breakthrough was on standby in case of evacuations in the city. The centre opened after a call at 3.45am and three people self-evacuated because they felt unsafe. They had left by 8am. Photo / Gisborne Herald
A small number of Gisborne residents received “suspicious phone calls” on Thursday morning from someone claiming to represent the council and asking them to evacuate.
The Gisborne District Council, in a statement, said the calls were not made by the council or Civil Defence staff.
Tairāwhiti Civil Defence Emergency Management(CDEM) office controller Ben Green said it was “incredibly disheartening” that someone would make fake calls and claims while people were facing serious risks.
“We can also confirm the city rivers were not at any risk of flooding homes,” the council said.
The calls had been reported to the police, and the council encouraged anyone who had received suspicious calls or messages to report them.
Around 30 whānau were evacuated to centres and marae across the Gisborne region.
Three people self-evacuated to the House of Breakthrough welfare centre – across the road from Gisborne Hospital – which Tairāwhiti Civil Defence had on standby.
The worst of the storm hit the northern parts of the region, as predicted with the red heavy rain warning.
Green said that, from what CDEM understood, the region had no one unaccounted for.
In Te Araroa, a family of seven people was rescued by Fire and Emergency New Zealand after being trapped overnight on their roof.
Storm damage leading to Whakaangiangi Rd in Te Araroa. Photo / Gisborne District Council
He said residents in Hicks Bay/Wharekahika were contacted at 3pm on Wednesday and advised to evacuate.
At 2.30am, a call was received to 111. Police, FENZ and St John responded and co-ordinated the rescue efforts.
“Conditions made efforts to access the family extremely challenging, but a successful evacuation was made, and the family were medically assessed.”
Thirty families evacuated to centres and many more stayed with family and friends, a council Facebook post said.
In Makarika Valley, just south of Ruatōria, resident Tarsh Koia said locals were advised to self-evacuate on Wednesday afternoon.
One whānau evacuated to the valley’s Rongohaere Marae that night, district councillor Rawinia Parata told Local Democracy Reporting. Parata is the Waiapu Civil Defence communications lead.
Other residents in the valley stayed locally with whānau, she said.
“We’re lucky to be a small and tight-knit community where our whānau members open their doors and share resources in their homes in times of need,” she said. “This is and always has been the Tairāwhiti way.”
In Gisborne, which was under an orange heavy rain warning, church food bank co-ordinator Karen Knubley got the call to open the House of Breakthrough welfare centre at 3.45am.
Two Harris St residents self-evacuated because they felt unsafe. Another resident self-evacuated later on for a short period.
The residents had breakfast at the facility and left about 8am.
“How good are we as a community that people have got a place to go?” Knubley said.
Power Outages
Around 400 customers across parts of the Gisborne and Wairoa networks experienced power outages.
Firstlight network manager George Drysdale told Local Democracy Reporting that as of 2pm on Thursday, power had been restored to around 250 customers.
Crews were working in “very challenging weather conditions”.
About 150 customers remained without power, with these outages affecting more rural parts of the network, which were inaccessible because of road closures.
“Ongoing slips and damage caused by the extreme weather are continuing to hamper our ability to reach and repair the affected lines.”
