Stormwater drains at Awatoto struggle with the aftermath of the November 9 Napier flooding. Photo / Paul Taylor
Stormwater drains at Awatoto struggle with the aftermath of the November 9 Napier flooding. Photo / Paul Taylor
OPINION
Napier's 2020 flood event was a major disaster for hundreds of affected households.
At least 117 homes were damaged beyond repair.
Many others were severely damaged. One-hundred and seventy-three evacuees were forced from their homes. Many became refugees for months, forced to live with friends, family or in camp grounds.
The cost of damage has run into tens of millions of dollars. Dozens of cars, including mine, were caught in floodwaters. It was a truly scary feeling floating off the road, water coming through the doors and having to step out into thigh-deep water.
The misery continues to this day with affected householders still struggling, repairs not completed and now having to fork out hundreds of dollars for increased insurance premiums.
After a lengthy nine-month gestation, two reports were produced.
One detailed the emergency response. The other set out to review the nature of the event and the performance of key drainage assets.
The emergency response report revealed a picture of disorganisation, delay and an unwillingness by some local council staff and Civil Defence workers to be involved. This sobering report points to chaos and disarray in our emergency services. This needs urgent attention.
The statement made by Napier City, that "the agencies generally worked well and did a good job of protecting the community in an overwhelming event", is delusional at best, in my view.
The quest for detailed information is not about blame or setting off a witch hunt. It's about protecting our community, says regional councillor Neil Kirton. Photo / File
The hazard report provided a tsunami of detail about the nature of the rainfall and provides an excellent overview of the extent of flooding.
It tells us precisely where the drainage infrastructure is located.
Problems with pump stations are mentioned, but the report does not investigate these problems further.
Many stories have emerged about pumps not working, power failures, blocked drains, poorly maintained pumps and dysfunctional relationships between Napier City and [Hawke's Bay] regional council staff.
It was a revelation but not in the report, that Napier City staff have not handed over the operating data of the pump stations they control, so their performance could be assessed.
The report is quick to tell us that the magnitude of the rainfall exceeded the capacity of the system.
While likely to be the case, the report concludes, without a shred of analysis provided, that the drainage scheme performed to "its design capability".
However, there is ample evidence in the report itself, that this statement is incorrect.
The quest for detailed information is not about blame or setting off a witch hunt. It's about protecting our community.
We need to know the optimum capacity of the 15 pumps in the system. We then need to know from the operating logs, how they actually performed. From there we can determine if their operation, maintenance and replacement can be improved.
Knowing the network's capacity and understanding the scale of the event will help decisions on increasing pumping capacity and where best to invest in the drainage system to protect the city in future.
The biggest issue is in overcoming the ingrained and apparently implacable human-made dysfunction around managing the network. By all accounts this has prevailed for years if not decades.
Both councils must share responsibility for the inertia. Knowing that a major flood risk exists for thousands of residents and not to progress plans to deal with the problem, is the unforgivable failure here.
The people of Napier are entitled to know what happened. We need accountability and most of all we need a clear pathway to solving the problems.
