Two Navy ships headed to cut-off communities in Hawke’s Bay, Tairāwhiti

Two Navy ships are headed towards cut-off communities in Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti as the Defence Force responds to a disaster that its commander has compared to Christchurch Earthquake.

Joint Forces commander Rear Admiral Jim Gilmour said HMNZS Manawanui would arrive in Gisborne harbour late Thursday morning with food and water, and a communications line would be set up in the town as satellite phones being used by responders were running out of battery power.

Cyclone Gabrielle has caused severe damage in Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti as it tracked across the upper North Island in recent days. Communities have been cut off, without power and electricity, and as of Wednesday afternoon four people were confirmed dead – including a child who died in floodwaters in Eskdale.

Gilmour said the response had a “similar feel to the Christchurch Earthquake in terms of scale”, due to the “breadth of challenges” faced. He was the commander of HMNZS Canterbury that was in Lyttleton Habour when the 2011 earthquake struck.

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“There is a real challenge just to understand what needs to happen, and in what order.

“I would not be surprised if the state of emergency gets extended next week, just as we learn more.”

Gilmour said the National Emergency Management Agency (Nema) had “an idea” of the damage on the coastline between Hastings and Gisborne, less was known about its impact inland.

“We’re a bit famished for information at the moment.

“There’s going to be a serious ongoing logistics challenge and particularly on the Hawke’s Bay and north, and that’s not going to be solved overnight.”

A C130 Hercules aircraft was due to land in Gisborne on Wednesday afternoon carrying blood, oxygen, and other medical supplies.

If it wasn’t carrying a communications “node”, this would be delivered on Thursday, Gilmour said. Another communications unit would be set up in Napier.

“Sat comm batteries are running out. Electricity is off, internet is not available, I understand that the fibre cables have been cut, so cell towers aren’t working.

“So what we should be able to provide through our communications equipment is an ability for local authorities, the council, and our people to be able to communicate more reliably outwards and inwards.”

HMNZS Manawanui was due to leave Devonport at 5pm and should reach Gisborne, its home port, by late morning on Thursday.

Gilmour said there had been “some developments” in Gisborne harbour that may make it impossible for Manawanui to access the port, so seaboats would be used to transfer supplies if needed. Manawanui is a dive and hydrographic vehicle that can survey harbours.

HMNZS Canterbury, a supply ship, was in the Southern Ocean assisting the Department of Conservation at the Auckland and Campbell Islands, but would be “moving north as soon as possible” to help.

It would stop in Lyttleton to pick up supplies before hopefully reaching Napier by Sunday, Gilmour said.

In total, hundreds of Defence Force personnel would be involved in the response in the coming days.

Gilmour was also anticipating civil defence sites would need help to feed people, so the Defence Force was moving camp kitchen facilities nearby in case Nema wanted this.

The Defence Force has struggled with a resource crunch in recent years, with rising attrition and problems maintaining air and sea assets.

Gilmour said “within the capability” the Defence Force had it was managing to respond to the cyclone.

“We are down on numbers, particularly in terms of suitably qualified and experienced people. But we’ve got enough to do this role. What we will see as we continue is that other things won’t be able to happen. But that isn’t an issue for us, because this is the main effort.

“We would struggle to prioritise if another big thing happened.”