Cyclone Gabrielle: Efforts to restore essential services underway in Hawke’s Bay where more deaths expected

What you need to know:

• A national state of emergency is in place after Cyclone Gabrielle slammed the North Island.
• The weather event is being treated as a category four emergency, the most severe response level, NEMA confirms.
• Five deaths have been confirmed, including that of a child in Eskdale.
• 300 rescues took place across Hawke’s Bay and 9000 people are believed to be displaced in the region, 1900 of which are at Civil Defence centres.
• Multiple rivers have breached their banks including the Wairoa River, flooding 10-15% of Wairoa, home to half of its population.
• Access between Hastings and Napier has been restored with SH51 reopened and SH50 expected to reopen in th next 24 hours. Several other bridges remain impassable.
• Residents urged to conserve water region-wide.
• Cell coverage is intermittent, but remains down for most from Gisborne to Hawke’s Bay.
• Power is still out across much of Hawke’s Bay and 90,000 homes are being powered by generators. It will be up to a week before power can be fully restored to Hawke’s Bay.
• Hawke’s Bay schools will remain closed until Monday

• Hawke’s Bay Hospital has cancelled all elective surgeries, endoscopy services and outpatient appointments for the week. Acute theatre continues as well as urgent Radiology procedures.

Efforts continue to restore essentials such as water, power, and communications across Hawke’s Bay where there are “grave concerns” about a number of people still missing and more rain on the way.

Five deaths have been confirmed in the devastating aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle, three of them in Hawke’s Bay. A Putorino woman died after a bank collapsed onto her home, while the body of another woman was found in the slash along the shore at Bay View Beach and the body of a young child was found in Eskdale.

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MetService has issued a severe thunderstorm watch for the ranges of Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne, with localised downpours of 25 to 40mm per hour and hail expected. This level of rainfall can cause flash flooding.

Much of the region remains cutoff with State Highway 5 between Napier and Taupō and SH2 between Napier and Wairoa is still closed. However, access between Napier and Hastings has been restored with SH51 now open and SH50, the expressway, will open for the north towards Napier within the next 24 hours.

READ MORE:
* Cyclone Gabrielle: Fears cyclone death toll will rise, as bodies seen floating in water
* Cyclone Gabrielle: Body seen in floodwaters, fears of more deaths than confirmed four
* ‘We want to know our people are safe’: anxious families in hard-hit Wairoa wait for news
* Cyclone Gabrielle: Wairoa ‘desperately in need’, says mayor
* Cyclone Gabrielle: What you need to know in your region

With main routes reopening and the port expected to open on Friday, supplies such as petrol, gas and food are being replenished but residents are still asked to urgently conserve water. HMNZS Canterbury, a supply ship, is expected to reach Napier by the end of the week.

Power is still out across much of Hawke’s Bay and 90,000 homes are being powered by generators. It will be up to a week before power can be fully restored to Hawke’s Bay.

Hundreds of rooftop rescues have been conducted in recent days. An entire group of seasonal workers – traditionally people brought from overseas to fill skills shortages in orchards – among them.

Kelvin Taylor and his son Cam spent hours rescuing people via chopper in some of the hardest hit areas, including Esk Valley, where Cam reported seeing at least one body in floodwaters. They feared the death toll would rise.

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“One body was seen floating unable to be rescued, and others winched out by chopper have spoken of seeing family members washed away,” said Kelvin.

Most of Hawke’s Bay, Wairoa, and Gisborne lost all power and phone communication on Tuesday and it remained down for many people on Wednesday. This was exacerbating concerns with many unable to contact missing loved ones.

On Thursday Eastern District Police district Commander superintendent Jeanette Park said there had been 3000 reports nationally of people who couldn’t be found, but 200 of them had since been located. Some people had been reported multiple times, Park says.

Several worried family members who spoke with Stuff have since been found, however, police had “grave concerns” for several people they confirmed were missing from the Eastern District – Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti.

About 1900 people were in civil defence emergency centres in Hawke’s Bay as of Thursday.

At a media conference on Wednesday Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said more than 9000 people were expected to be displaced across the Hawke’s Bay region which remained in an urgent response mode.

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Hastings mayor Sandra Hazlehurst said this was a “bigger than Bola” event.

“At the moment we know we still have people who are stranded and isolated so our focus is a welfare response,” she said. “We’ve got a long way to go.”

She said power resumed in various parts of the district including Camberley, Frimley, Flaxmere and parts of Havelock North.

“There are pockets of power that have resumed in Hastings.”

The district had a good supply of drinking water but people were still being asked to limit water use do to stormwater and wastewater impacts. People were also being urged to remain off the roads adding the region was still “hugely vulnerable”.

She said the Clive bridge reopening via SH51 was “absolutely fantastic news” as there were many people stranded on either side.

A statement from Transpower said 40,800 Hawke’s Bay homes were without power on Thursday. Of those, 31,700 were from Napier.

“There continue to be logistical challenges in restoring power in the region as a result of damage to roading, significant debris and damaged communications networks,” it said.

Wairoa remained completely isolated on Wednesday and was desperately in need of assistance after it was hit by the “most catastrophic weather event” in living memory, Mayor Craig Little said.

The northern Hawke’s Bay town was flooded after the Wairoa River burst its banks on Tuesday. Some power had been restored but communications were still limited.

The town had enough food, water and fuel for the next few days. However, Little said the situation was unsustainable. “Locally, people are being asked to conserve and rationalise everything.”