People cleaning up Clifton Rd, Haumoana after high tide brought more water and debris on to the road. Photo / Paul Taylor
The local state of emergency for Haumoana has been lifted after the Met Service orange weather warning ended and sea levels no longer pose a threat.
Residents of Haumoana and Cape Coast were settling back in shortly after high tide on Thursday morning after their second evacuation in 24 hours.
The state of emergency was lifted at 12.04pm following the high tide.
The impact of the six-metre swells along their stretch of Hawke’s Bay coastline has once again raised further questions about coastal resilience.
Four properties have been issued yellow placards meaning parts of the home have restricted access or there is only short-term access.
Hastings District Council said a decision was made overnight on Thursday to re-evacuate about 90 homes in Haumoana.
“These were homes where people had opted to stay or returned through the Police cordon.
“The decision was made with Police and Fenz (Fire and Emergency) staff and based on technical advice from HBRC (Hawke’s Bay Regional Council),” the statement read.
“Two families and around 30 RSE workers made their way to the Haumoana School Hall where they were registered and settled in for the night. They have since left the centre. Haumoana School remains closed today and is available for the community.”
The Haumoana School hall was empty of evacuees by 9.45am on Thursday morning.
HBRC continued its remedial work on the sea crest after high tide passed at 9.15am.
Hastings mayor Sandra Hazlehurst confirmed on Wednesday afternoon that one home in Haumoana was badly flooded during high tide on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
Fortunately, no one was reported injured.
The Haumoana resident of the flooded property, who did not want to be named, lives on the seafront along Clifton Rd and said his home flooded twice - at high tide on Tuesday night and again on Wednesday morning.
”It is definitely worse than Gabrielle,” he said, of his home flooding.
”High tide [on Tuesday night] came through the house.
”We got [the water] out last night but come 8am-9am this morning it came again.”
He stayed in his home overnight “sitting on my bed with my feet up” above the water-logged floor.
He said the house was flooded during the 2023 cyclone but not as badly.
He said people had been great at offering help, but it had been a hard night.
Hastings mayor Sandra Hazlehurst thanked the community for the co-operation shown over the past few days.
“Fortunately, we have come out the other side of this event with no major damage, and it’s good to see a bit of sunshine today.
“My thanks to the people of Haumoana for their patience waiting to return to their homes – we know has been inconvenient, but we wanted to do everything we could to ensure people were safe.”
Residents who were evacuated and went to stay with friends and family are being contacted via phone where contact details were provided to let them know it is safe to return.
Cape Coast Four Square employee Eva Bennett said there hadn’t been any panic buying and customers shopped “as normal”.
“I live around the corner in Shrimpton Rd quite high up so we didn’t need to be evacuated, thank God, but pretty much everyone in central Haumoana was.”
She said residents did hope for “sturdier” coastal protection after Cyclone Gabrielle.
“Along Beach Rd they did build it up quite a lot with soil and it did its job, but now the sea has come in and it bit a chunk of it away at the beachfront near the intersection right here. Now they are going to have to redo it,” Bennett said.
“Anyone who lives along here knows that you are going to get battered by the sea so as far as spending money to put more in, I don’t think it would be viable to do that because the sea will take it away, just as it has in the past.
“With the soil and building the shingle up, at least they are using the resources already on the beach.”
“A lot of the stuff that was done yesterday, like diggers putting more shingle up [along the beach], that should have been done a long time ago, not when there is a disaster on our doorstep”, Bennett said.
Septic Tanks:
Council recommends that residents of properties with septic tanks that were impacted by flooding check gully traps and outlet filters for debris or clogging and limit water use in the home untill their septic tank system restores itself and the water table falls. If people have concerns they are advised to get the system professionally checked and cleaned.
Rapid Building Assessments:
Council’s building team had inspected around 40 properties in the affected area. Four properties have been issued yellow placards meaning parts of the home have restricted access or there is only short-term access. 15 properties received a white placard which means the house can be used. Council officers have spoken to the property owners involved. Inquiries regarding building assessments can be made to buildingrecovery@hdc.govt.nz.
Roading update:
The Hastings District’s roading network held up well, with just one significant slip on Ellis Wallace Rd in Eskdale. Contractors are working on minor slips.
Flooding/inundation:
A wave warning is still in place for Cape Turnagain to Māhanga until 8am Friday morning. Please check forecasts and warnings before undertaking marine activities.