Almost a year after the devastating floods bought on by Cyclone Gabrielle a church has been reborn. Eskdale Church hosted it's first service carol singing since being inundated with flood water and silt. Video / Warren Buckland
Helen Street, aged 86, died at her home in the Napier suburb of Onekawa two days after Cyclone Gabrielle lashed Hawke’s Bay with devastating impact.
She is one of 11 people – mostly in Hawke’s Bay – who police have listed as fatalities linked to Cyclone Gabrielle in mid-February 2023.
The much-loved mum, grandmother and great-grandmother suffered from heart failure and was dependent on an electricity-powered oxygen machine at home and oxygen tanks when out and about.
Her family believe she died after her lifesaving oxygen was rationed during the storm.
They want her death on February 16 to be the subject of a full coronial inquiry. But a Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said a decision had yet to be made if inquests would be conducted.
Daughter Glenys Sandoval said she wanted all matters relating to her mum’s death to be fully probed in the same way as the death of Folole Muliaga of Māngere, who could not use her home oxygen machine after power was cut to her home in 2007 due to an unpaid bill.
“A big thing was made about that,” Sandoval said of the Muliaga tragedy.
“You thought something like that would never happen again. Clearly, it does.”
Helen Street needed supplied oxygen 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Muliaga had terminal heart and lung disease and needed her oxygen machine to stay alive. Power to the property was cut by Mercury Energy due to an unpaid $168.40 bill.
The electricity supplier was later criticised after a coronial inquest.
Muliaga’s death also led to the Electricity Commission introducing an instruction that residents who needed critical medical equipment should let their power provider know, and that they couldn’t have electricity cut for unpaid bills.
Ahead of the first anniversary of Cyclone Gabrielle and Street’s death, a Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said coroners were still in the process of making inquiries into the 11 cyclone-related deaths.
“At this stage, no decision has been made about whether any of the cases will be subject to an inquest,” a spokeswoman said.
“Once the coroner has received all the reports and information sought as part of the inquiries, a decision can be made about how each case proceeds.”
Last March, the Herald reported how Sandoval had seen police correspondence indicating that Street was rationing her tank oxygen – which did not require electricity – in the days leading up to her death.
When a massive outage cut power to Napier, Street had to rely on tank oxygen.
“Mum had one cylinder of oxygen there. How long was that going to last when she used it 24 hours a day?” Sandoval said.
Cyclone Gabrielle victim Helen Street died in her house in Foster Terrace, Onekawa, on February 16. Photo / Neil Reid
The family have since been told by a Napier health professional about the creation of a makeshift primary care unit just 3km from Street’s home which cared for numerous elderly patients who needed oxygen “24/7″.
Sandoval was emphatic her mother was never told about the initiative, which could have proven a life-saver.
“How does that happen?” she said. “Whoever was supplying the oxygen, why weren’t they giving that information?”
Penny Rongotoa, Te Whatu Ora Te Matau a Māui Hawke’s Bay general manager whānau and communities, told the Herald the health provider could not comment on individual cases before the coroner.
But it did want to “acknowledge Helen Street’s whānau, as a death of a loved mother and grandmother is always sad”.
Rongotoa said that at the time of the cyclone Te Whatu Ora “contacted all people who were reliant on oxygen, to ensure they had a suitable supply”.
“Te Whatu Ora did not advise any users to ration their oxygen supply,” Rongotoa said.
“Furthermore, it is the service policy to provide all patients with a back-up supply of oxygen cylinders in their home.”
Protocol meant when patients were enrolled on its oxygen service, they were given “an extensive education allowing them to confidently operate the equipment”.
Rongotoa said patients were also given “a comprehensive booklet” to refer to at any time of their treatment.
The booklet states: “If the oxygen concentrator is not working or there is an unplanned disruption to your power supply DON’T PANIC. Treat the time as your time off oxygen.
“Most people will not come to any harm if they are off oxygen for a day or two.”
The Napier suburb of Onekawa did not suffer major flooding during Cyclone Gabrielle's battering. Photo / Neil Reid
Sandoval said her mum was remembered as a “strong woman” who never complained.
She had six surviving children – Jean Carson, Joseph Lloyd, Sandoval, Brenda Dunnett, Alan Lloyd and Teresa Hilliard – and “many grandchildren and great-grandchildren”.
Sandoval said her mum was constantly in the thoughts of her loved ones.
Neil Reid is a Napier-based senior reporter who covers general news, features and sport. He joined the Herald in 2014 and has 30 years of newsroom experience. He was on the frontline of NZME’s coverage of Cyclone Gabrielle when it hit Hawke’s Bay and closely followed the clean-up operation that followed.
