Hawke’s Bay communities preparing for the inevitable next Gabrielle

Richard Gaddum is ensuring Waimārama is prepared for when a natural disaster hits. Photo / Lauren Crimp RNZ

By Lauren Crimp RNZ

After Cyclone Gabrielle tore Hawke’s Bay communities apart, they’re banding together to prepare for the next disaster.

The morning floodwaters ripped through the rural Hastings settlement of Maraekakaho, Jonathan Stockley surveyed the damage and got to work.

“It always has been, and will continue to be, the expectation that when things get bad, help, support, information will be available,” he said. “And where will it be? It’ll be in our village hall.”

Of course, things did get bad. And when Stockley opened the doors of the Maraekakaho village hall, the community flocked.

“People would walk in the door, and you’d make eye contact, and it would be, ‘What the heck have we just been through? How are you getting on? What’s it like at your place?’”

Residents reached family members via Stockley’s home internet and laptop set up at the hall, and he communicated with Civil Defence in Hastings via the fire station’s radio. It was not much, but it did the trick in a pinch.

But now, thanks to $1 million each from the Ministry for Primary Industries and the Red Cross, it is soon to be one of 31 community emergency hubs set up around the region by the end of the year.

They were designed for and by each community, and placed where necessary - from a container on high ground, to a marae or school.

Work has already started in Maraekakaho. Solar panels and a battery, installed under the hall staging, provide a resilient power source, making it a place to come for warmth, internet, a hot meal, and a much-needed cup of tea.

By the end of the year, it will be kitted out with all the essentials to accommodate up to 50 people.

And locals are being trained in emergency management, first aid and psychological first aid.

“We’re certainly more confident that next time this happens - because there will be a next time - that we can cope with it better,” Stockley said.

“There is a degree of comfort in that, but the comfort will come when we’ve actually completed all of this.”

The need for local emergency hubs has been pushed by Waimārama resident Richard Gaddum, who told the region’s mayors in June that Civil Defence was “set up to fail” ever since the regional council dismantled local volunteer groups in 2014.

Communities had to be able to take care of themselves, he said.

“We can’t be looked after and controlled from a) Wellington, and b) from a little office in Hastings, and that was proven to be so in this last Gabrielle event.”

While Gaddum fought hard to keep the Waimārama civil defence base, and it contained vital equipment, it would be wiped out in a tsunami. So the new funding has paid for a new 12-metre container on his land, 30m above sea level.

Another would soon arrive on the other side of the settlement in case the community was split in two, which happened in the 2011 floods. They would be filled with everything necessary to cater for the community for up to two weeks.

“There’s a few sheep running around, so we’ll have a bit of food.”

But he - and Stockley - were firm about the seriousness of being prepared. Another disaster was inevitable, they said. As community-minded folk, they were determined to keep their friends and neighbours safe.

Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst had one word to describe them.

“Legends, they are legends,” she said. “They’ve all stood up, and said ‘You know, we want to lead this work and make sure our community is prepared and ready’.”

But Gaddum and Stockley were equally complimentary, saying the mayor understood how serious the need was and fought their corner to help make the hubs happen.

The council had also organised two mobile emergency hubs, Hazlehurst said, with supplies for up to 100 people that could be helicoptered into any area in the district.