Cyclone Gabrielle: Civil Defence’s emergency response in Hawke’s Bay to be reviewed

Planning is under way for a review of the regional emergency response by Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management Group. Photo / Dee Southall

An independent review will be launched into Civil Defence’s response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawke’s Bay.

Eight people died in the region, thousands were displaced, and hundreds of homes were left yellow and red stickered in a disaster that caught many in the region by surprise.

Hundreds in Esk Valley, Pakowhai and other rural communities were forced on to rooftops before evacuation notices arrived as water poured off the Kaweka and Ruahine Ranges and overtopped and broke stopbanks.

An announcement that planning is under way for a review, was made by Hawke’s Bay Regional Council chair Hinewai Ormsby on Monday.

Ormsby is also the chair of the Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management Joint Committee, the governing body of HBCDEM.

“The HBCDEM Group Joint Committee members – our region’s mayors and I – are committed to an independent, fair, and transparent review of HBCDEM’s operational response to Cyclone Gabrielle,” Ormsby said in a statement.

“This commitment, responsibility and accountability is expected and needed by our communities. While still early in the event, it is important we move with pace on this review, to ensure our communities are prepared for any event in the future.”

Ormsby said they were not able to start a review earlier while they were still in a national state of emergency, but it was now the right time coming into the transition stage.

A statement from HBCDEM acknowledged the isolation communities, local emergency operation centres and emergency services experienced at the peak of Cyclone Gabrielle.

“Through this isolation in the hardest days of the cyclone’s impacts, a shared regional understanding of what happened across communities is yet to emerge,” an HBCDEM statement said.

Wairoa District Council mayor Craig Little said the review would look at the systems and processes, roles, and responsibilities of the HBCDEM Group members and partners.

“We need to ensure a common understanding across the whole region of what occurred, identify the lessons from this event and understand what is needed to improve resilience for all our Hawke’s Bay cities, towns and communities,” Little said.

Napier mayor Kirsten Wise said it was better to initiate the review earlier so the data could be used to inform further lessons for the emergency management system in Hawke’s Bay and across the whole country.

Hastings mayor Sandra Hazlehurst said it was important that all local councils, Treaty partners, and partner agencies involved in the operational response, conduct and share reviews of their responses under the wider HBCDEM review.

Central Hawke’s Bay mayor Alex Walker said the Joint Committee expected central Government to also hold a review into the response.

“We would welcome any central government review, to ensure the system continues to learn, improve, and provide the best possible outcomes for our communities,” Walker said.

Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Group has so far declined to answer many questions about the 24 hours in which the cyclone hit, citing the possibility of that compromising a future review.

One aspect it has confirmed is that group controller Ian Macdonald was on leave for a tramping trip in the South Island when Cyclone Gabrielle hit the region.

Hawke's Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management boss Ian Macdonald. Photo / NZME.

Macdonald had no contact with other Civil Defence workers from Thursday, February 9 until late on Monday, February 13 and did not arrive back in Hawke’s Bay until February 15.

Some residents in Pakowhai and Esk Valley in particular have expressed anger and frustration with how evacuations were organised by Civil Defence and the lack of evacuations or warnings ahead of time.

The review would be undertaken by independent and experienced emergency management professionals and the terms of reference were expected to be finalised in the coming weeks, according to the HBCDEM statement.

Ormsby said the terms of reference would be released to the public through an HBCDEM Joint Committee meeting.