Luke Kirkness: It’s going to take a community effort to get through the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle

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OPINION:

I have been immensely impressed by the efforts of Civil Defence, first responders, power line crews, local council staff and others this week.

Cyclone Gabrielle left a trail of destruction across the upper North Island as it made its way down the coast overnight Monday.

As the clean-up continues in the Bay of Plenty today, it’s important locals rally around one another - especially those who suffered as a result of the storm.

Hundreds of people were evacuated from coastal communities on Monday as surging seas and flooding from heavy rain threatened homes.

I was updating our news websites until 2am on Tuesday, largely because that’s when the storm was most severe, but ultimately because I was able to, thanks to the dedicated teams at Bay of Plenty Civil Defence and other agencies that were committed to keeping the public in the loop.

I’m sure the information shared helped put locals at ease as their houses rattled away in the strong winds and heavy rain poured down — even if some updates included telling communities they may be forced to evacuate.

The extent of the cyclone became apparent in the Bay of Plenty on Tuesday morning.

Trees had been toppled across the region, some falling on houses and across roads, and thousands of homes had no power.

Many schools didn’t open.

In suburban Tauranga, my home was largely unscathed, but about 10pm on Monday, a gust of wind forced open a window with so much force the frame broke and glass shattered.

Of course, I’m one of the lucky ones.

Outside of the Bay of Plenty, many homes have been destroyed and communities have been cut off, and a firefighter trapped by a fallen house in Muriwai on Monday night was still missing late on Tuesday afternoon.

Cyclone Gabrielle has had a tragic and devastating impact.

Over the past couple of weeks, severe weather has caused floods that destroyed everything people owned and completely wiped out farmers’ crops across the region, and slips that destroyed homes.

It’s been the summer from hell, but recent extreme weather events such as the cyclone and the Auckland Anniversary flooding remind me to count my blessings.

That’s why it’s important to spare a thought for the people who didn’t make it through the cyclone unscathed and to look out for one another.