“The cellphone network has multiple sites out of operation across various parts of the North Island, with the ability to call 111 from Gisborne now not available.”
With the region cut off, the paging network was the only communication form to have no issues.
The Regional Coordination Centre SitRep noted the Fire and Emergency NZ Gisborne Command Unit was being utilised as a multi-agency facility to enable coordination and communications to manage the responses to the event.
Concerns for the township at Wairoa were also noted as “potential life risk” with power and cellphones cut off.
A national state of emergency was declared on February 14.
On February 15 LMR (Land Mobile Radio) radio network was back online for local communications available in Gisborne, Wairoa and East Cape.
Major routes in and out of Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay were still closed or with very limited access affecting critical supply chains and making Tokomaru Bay “an island”.
In Wairoa the situation was stabilising and water levels receding but there was still no access to the township.
“Internet services only exist on the Starlink system but it is overloaded therefore unreliable for quick and responsive messaging,” the SitRep stated.
There was also praise for the Wairoa FENZ volunteer crew which was “operating well” with support from a crew of four career staff from Napier.
“Crews have begun a second sweep of the 250 affected houses, checking (each) is unoccupied and marking clear of persons.”
On February 16, the focus for operations in Gisborne was to establish four priority sites for satellites and gensets.
“We are also working across Telco industry to leverage backhaul between providers which will then give us some backhaul into Gisborne.
“Once we have integrated into our network . . . will look to liven up 10 central city locations with 3G voice and SMS (work in progress — no ETA).”
Power was still out with the SitRep noting the potential for the situation to remain like that for up to seven days.
“We believe there is local communication available in the Gisborne, Wairoa and East Cape area. FENZ has established a VOIP (voice over internet protocol) connection via satellite with the Gisborne ICP. The connection is live but resilience is moderate.
This connection is for mobilisation purposes. Napier Command Unit is being linked to establish a connection between FireCom, Napier and Gisborne using the Rocket Lab repeater.
“The main water supply for Gisborne remains non-operational. The alternative water supply only meets 30 percent of the normal water supply.”
By this time the need to establish effective communications was becoming more urgent.
“SH2 from Opotiki to Gisborne is now open at limited times, enabling access to Tairāwhiti.
“Some remote communities remain cut off (Tokomaru Bay is an “island”) and our team have very limited communication.
“Four satellite phones and a Starlink unit are en route to Gisborne today. The Navy is delivering critical supplies to the district via sea.
“The Tairāwhiti team are still in response mode and due to lack of resources and communications we haven’t yet received an assessment of impact on our people, equipment and properties.
“A relief executive officer will travel to Gisborne on Friday and relief command unit crew are on standby, awaiting further instructions.
“VSOs are delivering critical supplies today and will start to assist with the clean-up operation in the Gisborne station, which was inundated with contaminated flood water.
“Contaminated PPE is being removed and replaced with clean PPE from Bay of Plenty District. Bay of Plenty District personnel are heavily involved in supporting Tairāwhiti District personnel and at this stage this presents no issues.
“While Tairāwhiti is being supported by personnel from Waikato and Bay of Plenty districts, we’re keeping a close watch on the welfare of our people in Gisborne, in particular, as there has been no relief available to them since the start of the event.”
Contact was restored with Wairoa “which is in a critical state with an estimated two days of water and three days of food remaining”.
“A helicopter flight yesterday was taken to the Wairoa pump station to assess and identify a solution to the water supply issue.”
A year on from the cyclone two separate reviews are coming to their conclusions on what can be learned from the event.
A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesperson this week said it was FENZ’s usual practice to carry out reviews of significant incidents to learn from them and to support its ongoing improvement.
“Due to the significance of the Auckland Anniversary weekend floods, and the scale of Cyclone Gabrielle which hit just a few weeks later, we commissioned a combined operational review of our response which is due to be completed and released soon.”
A larger inquiry into the 2023 North Island severe weather events is almost complete, with interim findings, which will not be made public, before Cyclone Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell.
“The Government is committed to ensuring our emergency management system has the arrangements and resources in place to support response and recovery to future extreme weather events and other emergencies,” a spokeswoman for Mr Mitchell said.
“The interim recommendations have provided the Minister with the opportunity to start considering the implications of the inquiry’s findings, and what the Government should do in response after it has received the final report.
“The final report is due to the Minister on March 26.”
Asked if he had received requests for further recovery funding from Gisborne District Council, the spokes woman said she could not discuss individual requests.
“The Government is committed to supporting cyclone and flood-affected communities.
“As a priority the Minister for Cyclone Recovery is continuing to meet with councils and communities to understand what further support is needed. The Minister had a positive meeting with the Gisborne District Council Mayor recently and understands the challenges they are facing.“
