Flooding in Black Street, Wairoa last week. Photo: RNZ / Calvin Samuel
People will be re-traumatised by flooding in Hawke’s Bay a year after Cyclone Gabrielle hit the region, a psychologist says.
Nearly 500 homes were damaged by floodwaters, with more than 100 rendered uninhabitable, after heavy rain in the East Coast last week.
A state of emergency was declared in Haumoana, the Heretaunga Ward in Hastings District, and Wairoa.
Psychologist Amber Logan said there were a number of people with post-traumatic stress disorder after Cyclone Gabrielle who would be triggered by East Coast floods.
“They’ll be struggling, they’ll be re-experiencing, they’ll be having flashbacks, they’ll be feeling anxious, [have] trouble sleeping, [be] feeling irritable - those kinds of things,” she said.
“When you have a large and essentially uncontrollable event like this, it really is the worst kind of trigger that you can have.”
Logan said the memory of Cyclone Gabrielle was still raw.
Last year, her own place in Haumoana flooded during the cyclone. She was without power for some time, and a year on, in February, she said she was still cleaning up the property.
Last week, Logan said she had experienced some flooding, but “it wasn’t anywhere near as bad”.
She said those who were evacuated would have been faced with two or three police officers banging on their door at 3am and would have had less than an hour to leave.
“Things like that are very confronting for people and difficult to get through,” she said.
She encouraged anyone struggling to take advantage of the free counselling still available in Hawke’s Bay after Cyclone Gabrielle, “if they are having flashbacks, waking up in the middle of the night or not being able to get to sleep, if they’re finding they’re feeling angry, anxious, constantly worried, or feeling numb or not able to feel happy”.
It was important “not to keep trying to suppress those feelings”, she said.
“There is a natural tendency for people to stuff all those feelings back down deep inside, so they don’t feel them, but that can actually make it worse.”
Mental Health
Where to get help:
• Lifeline: Call 0800 543 354 or text 4357 (HELP) (available 24/7)• Suicide Crisis Helpline: Call 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO) (available 24/7)• Youth services: (06) 3555 906• Youthline: Call 0800 376 633 or text 234• What’s Up: Call 0800 942 8787 (11am to 11pm) or webchat (11am to 10.30pm)• Depression helpline: Call 0800 111 757 or text 4202 (available 24/7)• Helpline: Need to talk? Call or text 1737If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111
Coronial inquest: The deaths are among 18 linked to the Auckland floods and Gabrielle.