History repeats 35 years later

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

SHORTLY after Cyclone Bola, Ginny Sherriff, who farmed at Ngatapa with husband Tim in 1988, wrote a poem that summed up the devastation and challenges that came with that major event.

It was printed in The Gisborne Herald that year.

Ginny brought a copy of it into the Herald this week, and the content of it compared to Cyclone Gabrielle was just about an action replay.

The similarities ring just as true for the district post-Gabrielle as they did for so many after Bola.

It was just another Sunday

With drizzle and the odd little shower

But in 48 hours we would suffer

The full force of nature’s power.

The rain lashed down all Monday

Surface water began to appear

Rivers rose alarmingly fast

A flood was likely we feared.

Civil Defence swung into action

Low lying areas resembled a lake

People were evacuated from their homes

In case the stopbanks should break.

Through the night the radio warnings

Sent information to every quarter

Stories of death, danger and heroes

Emerged from the raging water.

Tuesday and the deluge continued

Whole hillsides tumbled down

Wairoa’s bridge disappeared down river

Completely isolating the town.

We tried to comprehend the situation

Te Karaka and Ormond had suffered the most

But the disaster continued to widen

As we received the news from the Coast.

Wednesday dawned fine and calm

Helicopters rapidly filled the skies

As people stood shocked and bewildered

They flew in with hope and supplies.

The main water supply crushed and broken

Meant Gisborne City would suffer too.

People talked of years to repair it

Meanwhile, how we’d cope nobody knew.

New Zealand learned of the disaster

Politicians and experts confirmed our fears

A flood of this magnitude could be expected

Once in two hundred and fifty years.

Horticulture on the flats took a beating

Its precious crops covered in silt

Some hill country farms would never recover

More shattered lives to be rebuilt.

Volunteers moved in to help victims

Clearing mud, picking grapes by hand.

Gisborne’s survival depended on then

This, they could understand.

Roadmen, police, army and pilots

Worked tirelessly day and night

Along with the brave and gallant band

Putting power and telephones to right.

But how do you pick up the pieces

Of lives on the brink of despair

Government must come up with the answers

For farmers, the incentive must be there.

Maybe this disaster serves as a lesson

A terrible way to bring us together

Why can’t we just be New Zealanders

Without pressure from the weather.

It will take years to resurrect our lives

In this area we love the most.

But we’re a resilient breed of people

So let’s get together and rebuild the Coast.

Ginny Sherriff (A farmer’s wife who owes a great deal to the kindness and efficiency of the Civil Defence, helicopter pilots and neighbours)