The team at Bay Skate in Napier preparing for the wild weather with sandbags near the doors. Photo / Paul Taylor
The Hawke’s Bay community has been out doing everything from laying sandbags to digging trenches to boarding up clubrooms ahead of Cyclone Gabrielle lashing the region.
All shipping in and out of Napier Port has also been halted ahead of the storm hitting the region on Monday and Tuesday, while some flights have been cancelled at Hawke’s Bay Airport.
MetService says this is “not a system to ignore” and the cyclone “poses a very high risk of extreme, impactful, and unprecedented weather over many regions of the North Island”.
As of Sunday evening, a heavy rain warning was in place for Hawke’s Bay from 10am on Monday until 10am on Tuesday, while a strong wind warning was in place from 5pm on Monday until noon on Tuesday. The worst of the storm is expected to hit the region on Monday night.
“Hawke’s Bay residents need to be prepared for heavy rain, strong winds and large waves,” HBCDEM group controller Edaan Lennan said.
The Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management Group (HBCDEM) stated the wild weather could result in power outages, damage to roads, and flooding. Strong wind gusts may also bring down trees.
Lennan encouraged people to get prepared and a check list has been included below.
Cyclone Gabrielle passed Norfolk Island on Sunday morning headed toward the top of New Zealand.
The impact of the cyclone was starting to be felt in Northland on Sunday afternoon with power outages reported.
In Hawke’s Bay, up to 350mm of rain is expected in the ranges and up to 150mm of rain is expected to fall elsewhere in the region during the 24-hour period from Monday 10am.
Napier Port has decided not to allow anymore ships into the port until Thursday morning, with the port cleared of ships on Sunday.
“Ships due in the next few days will be anchored at sea until midnight Wednesday, and we will hopefully resume shipping on Thursday.
“We’re constantly monitoring and if conditions change, we’ll adjust how we’re managing it.”
The port will also stop its land operations if the wind reaches 40 knots, which is forecast around 5pm on Monday.
The Tararua District is also under an orange heavy rain warning for 20 hours from 4pm Monday, until noon on Tuesday and an orange wind warning from 5pm Monday until noon on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Air NZ would not comment about its specific flights in and out of Hawke’s Bay Airport, but all flights to Auckland from Napier on Sunday afternoon had been cancelled. Further flights are also likely to be cancelled on Monday and Tuesday.
Bay Skate in Napier manager Kyle Hamilton said they would put sandbags in front of their doors, facing the ocean, as a precaution.
“Ever since the last major flood [in November 2020] we have made sure we have all the measures in place,” he said.
“After that flood, we got ourselves a stash of sandbags, that way whenever we have [weather like this coming] it is like running a fire drill and we just put our sandbags outside our doors.”
Westshore Surf Lifesaving Club was also boarding up its club on Sunday in anticipation of the storm.
Meanwhile, farmers such as Geoff Alexander of Puketapu were digging trenches to try and handle the heavy rain.
Iona College postponed its Year 7/8 camp with principal Helen Armstrong stating “with the unknown threat of the cyclone, we needed to give families advanced notice and so the obvious decision was to postpone”.
Residents have also been stocking up on essentials including items such as gas bottles.
The cyclone will bring large swells to the area and boaties have been busy securing vessels.
Gisborne is forecast to be hit harder than Hawke’s Bay and that region is already reeling from extensive storm damage last month.
How to get prepared: