Residents of the small Hawke’s Bay town of Pōrangahau say they are feeling forgotten, with little sign of government agencies a month after Cyclone Gabrielle.
The remote village on the coast, about 45 minutes out of Waipukurau, was almost completely flooded, with many houses uninsured and about a third of people needing to be rehomed.
Local Anthony Tipene said the Pōrangahau River rose with a speed and ferocity he had never seen before, with the cyclone hitting right on high tide.
There were no stop-banks to hold back the floodwaters in the village of about 250 people. About 35 homes, Rongomaraeroa Marae, and the Kaiwhitikitiki urupā were all damaged.
Tipene, who is the marae chair, said the wharekai and ablution block were devastated, but the waters stopped short of the wharenui.
“So there’s about a foot of silt and mud throughout the whole marae. The ironic thing [was] in front of our whare tūpuna, the marae ātea, a lot of cows were standing there, so that became the high ground.
“Our tūpuna were so bright that they built our whare on the high ground.”
Trudy Hobson, in charge of Civil Defence in Pōrangahau, said the little farming community rallied quickly.
“Just seeing everyone pull together is just absolutely amazing. We had farmers out in Mangaorapa who, after the cyclone, they had no power, so they just got in their tractors and started clearing the road from Mangaorapa down to the village,” Hobson said.
“It’s just been incredible to see everyone working together for the better of the community.”
The town was cut off for a week, the road out covered by slips. The community relied on each other for food and to help pull up carpets and remove GIB boards from flood-ravaged homes.
Ngāti Kere chair David Tipene-Leach said the hapū raised about $90,000, much of it from donations, for people to be rehomed and to support volunteers who have been working without pay.
The clean-up has begun, after the dining hall of the marae was flooded. Photos / Supplied
Although they had good support from the local council, the central government had not been seen in Pōrangahau and they were struggling to access aid, Tipene-Leach said.
“Everybody in our community is asking... where’s the government in all this? Where are the aid services? What we can’t figure out is although there has been some money announced by the government for the flood, it’s very, very difficult to find the pathways through to get hold of any of that aid.”
Tipene-Leach was worried Pōrangahau would be forgotten.
“We hear that councils and government are beginning to slow down their response, and even close Civil Defence centres - we don’t understand that, we feel that this thing is not over.”
Hobson said the community was coping well, but there was a deflated feeling setting in, with so much left to do and so little help coming from outside.
“We’ve got an amazing little community that all comes together and helps out. I think mainly it’s the mental health that will be coming in need in the next few weeks and months.”
Tipene said the first priority had been to clear the urupā of debris and repair headstones that had been knocked over by the flood.
He hoped the marae could reopen soon, providing a community space.
“We are so fortunate here that our whare tūpuna wasn’t affected. All those other marae like Tangoio and those other places where their marae got affected, our prayers have been always with them from the first day to now. He mamae rawa atu tērā.”
For now, the recovery continues in Pōrangahau, thanks largely to the hard work of locals and volunteers.
RNZ is seeking government and local authority comment.
