State of emergency in Tairāwhiti, heavy rain expected to push slash down hills

With Cyclone Gabrielle approaching, a state of emergency was declared across Tairāwhiti on Monday morning as inland parts of the region prepare for 300 to 450 mm of rain.

Rivers around Tolaga Bay had risen by several metres since sunrise on Monday, with some bridges very near to being overcome and the main road, State Highway 35, closed between Te Puia Springs and Ruatoria.

The Mangaheia River was lapping the top of Wigan bridge on Tauwhareparae Road, which is usually a precursor to the river blocking and flooding.

Other bridges were looking similarly precarious, with huge piles of woody debris still lining their banks from Cyclone Hale now being washed into rivers.

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Seventeen people self-evacuated from areas threatened by the Hikuwai River which had risen considerably, with large amounts of slash flowing down its centre.

Nori Parata, Civil Defence deputy officer and Tolaga Bay Area School principal, was at the helm of the local civil defence centre set up at the school.

“We’re ready for the worst. It’s likely to start to get bad around 4pm. We expect power to go out at some stage. And there will be flooding of course.

“It’s quite soul-destroying watching the live webcam of the Hikuwai River and seeing all that wood heading our way,” Parata said.

A welfare centre has been set up at Hauiti Marae in readiness for the worst.

“It’s been five years since we’ve had to set up a welfare centre. Mostly because people up here are very clued up now about what to do in these situations.

“But because of the intensity we’re expecting this time, there may be some people who aren’t expecting to be affected who will be affected,” Parata said.

“We’re encouraging anyone who thinks they might need to evacuate to do it soon while it is still daylight in order to lessen the risk.”

Some residents had also evacuated Anaura Bay, but 36 people had chosen to remain there, Parata said.

“They’ll be watching the swell closely. I think there’s a lot of concern around the urupa (cemetery) out there, which has been badly affected previously.”

Strong winds, forestry slash a concern

Gisborne Federated Farmers president Toby Williams, who lives near Tolaga Bay, said the impending arrival of woody debris in the waterways “seems to be a given now”.

“One of the big worries about Gabrielle is the wind. We haven’t had strong winds with the other storms we’ve had.

“With the wind expected today I expect a lot of trees to fall, and obviously power outages,” he said.

“Our roads will be decimated again. The contractors have only just cleaned up the roads from Hale. Some of them haven’t even been started yet.”

Roads already damaged would get worse, meaning farmers and forestry blocks would likely be cut off.

“I think there’s the potential to get record river levels again. That will see all the debris cleared from the last storm will get picked up again. The beaches will be covered again.

“It’s back to square one again for the East Coast. It’s really starting to take a toll now on farmers and residents,” Williams said.

By 1pm the Hikuwai River had reached 10.5m at Willowflat point and continued to rise. The river had earlier been expected to peak at 10m about 9pm on Monday, according to Gisborne District Council.

Earlier this year during Cyclone Hale, the river surpassed previous record levels seen during Cyclone Bola, rising to more than 13.51m.

Tairāwhiti Civil Defence Group Controller Ben Green said the combination of the high-intensity rain, gale force winds, 5-7m waves and storm surge had led the MetService to describe Cyclone Gabrielle as having a very high risk of extreme impactful and unprecedented weather across the region.

“River levels are being watched closely in our district with levels expected to peak around 2-4am,” he said.

“Because this is in the middle of the night we are advising those who live in at-risk areas to have a plan to self-evacuate before it gets dark if the levels continue to rise.”

Evacuation centres had been set up in the city and up the coast and would be activated when required.

There have been sandbags and ramps placed around areas in the city prone to surface flooding.

Green said the region had been preparing for the past three days and was ready.

“We ask people to check on any whānau or neighbours who may be vulnerable. The majority of schools around the region have closed and all community links have been activated around the region.”

The state of emergency will be in place for seven days.