Cyclone Gabrielle: Locals fear cyclone-hit Pakowhai may never be the same

Diane O'Neill and her son-in-law Trent Bray rescued all the animals and took them to safety at the school next door during Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / RNZ

By Jimmy Ellingham of RNZ

The settlement of Pakowhai lies between two cities, Napier and Hastings, and between two rivers.

On 14 February, those rivers, the Tutaekuri and Ngaruroro, breached their banks and flooded the fertile farming plain during Cyclone Gabrielle.

The water inundated the district, completely submerging homes.

Six months on, Chesterhope Kennels owner Diane O’Neill’s business on Chesterhope Rd is returning to normal after a hard slog of repair work.

But she and husband Kerry are still out of their house, which sits on the same property as the kennel.

They are now living with a daughter elsewhere in Hawke’s Bay, but were staying in Havelock North - and O’Neill said not walking across the yard each night to go home was a wrench.

“When we were in Havelock at a friend’s house, I would hop in my car every night and leave the place and cry - just hop into my car and cry all the way to Havelock,” she said.

“I’ve lost my home. I have lost the place for my family and my grandchildren, and I feel like I’ve lost six months of my life because of it.”

The day of the cyclone, she and son-in-law Trent Bray battled water that rose to chest height to carry 60 dogs and several cats to safety.

All the animals survived after the pair smashed their way into the school next door, on slightly higher ground.

In February, O’Neill told RNZ how she and Bray put the animals in cages on desks after the hard job of battling through the water.

“You couldn’t even walk against the current. It was so torrential. We got to the power pole at the gate and we both leaned against it for two minutes to catch our breath, and it took us about half an hour to get to the school.”

It took half an hour to cover barely a few hundred metres.

The O’Neills can rebuild their house - which was being extended when the cyclone hit - but they will return to live in a different Pakowhai.

Many homeowners were recently told they are on land classed Category 3 - not suitable to rebuild.

“Seventy houses,” O’Neill said. “Pakowhai’s going to be a ghost town. We are the lucky ones. I feel so sorry for the people I know in the community that can’t come back.”

O’Neill’s house was thoroughly inundated, with the water causing plenty of damage and creating a big repair job for builders.

“They’ve going to take all the walls off. A lot of the [ceilings] - in the bathroom - are getting replaced. There’s holes in all the floors.

“They’re going to just lift all the floors - they’ve bevelled.

“They basically have to strip it right back. It needs to be re-cleaned. They’re going to have to go under the house and remove all the silt.”

The cyclone hit three generations of the family.

O’Neill’s parents, aged in their 80s, were forced out of their flood-damaged home in Awatoto, Napier.

And another of O’Neill’s daughters and her family, including two young children, are now in a newly refurbished sleepout at the kennel after losing their home too - although, also in Pakowhai, they can rebuild.

“Her partner was just staying here in the camper van at night because we had to have someone onsite because of looting and because of dogs on the property, just for safety.

“So they’ve been apart for probably a good few months since the flooding.”

Those months were taking their toll - the property had flooded when it rained, and there were battles with insurance companies, she said.

“Overall, it’s mentally taxing because you spend your whole time getting quotes, getting claims, then they come in $250,000 under what it should be.

“I’ve got to get them back up to what they should be and it’s just really really hard.”

Gary Spence and his wife had evacuated their Brookfields Rd property before floodwaters completely submerged their house. Photo / RNZ

RNZ spoke to Gary Spence at his nearby Brookfields Rd property after the cyclone, when he was in clean-up mode.

He and wife Liz evacuated their section before the floodwater completely submerged their single-storey house.

It is still standing - smelling of mould inside, weeds growing from the walls and the scratch marks of rats visible in the windows.

The couple were keen to return to their land but, for now, they cannot.

They had plans to have a transportable home on the property ahead of permanent repair work, but scuppered those when they got wind a Category 3 ruling was on the way.

“It’s a bit of a difficult one. We’re not allowed to live here. I was born here, 77 years ago. It’s a bit tough,” Spence said.

“But, really, we are pretty lucky because we had a full payout from the insurance company and we’ve actually bought a house over in Taradale.

“Like a lot of other people in Pakowhai, we feel sorry for the ones who are still fighting insurance companies and trying to get their money.”

Spence hopes flooding mitigation will mean one day the land is deemed safe to live on.

“We’re doing OK and my wife, in particular, is really looking forward to the move into what she can call her own home.”

For now the Spence family land, formerly home to beautifully curated gardens and, previously, an orchard, is being leased for cropping.

As they are preparing for their move into their new home, they are keeping busy.

“Life throws a few curveballs at you now and again, and you’ve just got to go with it. We were looking at downsizing, and it’s been forced upon us, well and truly.

“My wife’s had a lovely shopping time, buying fridges and stoves and what’s needed. She’s done a fabulous job,” Spence said.

He has been working at the Pakowhai section and getting his tractors going again, as he and his wife live at a friend’s house.

“The house we bought is lovely. It’s a small, little house, easy to look after. There’s a garden, a little bit of lawn to mow, and a veggie garden that my wife will certainly enjoy, so we’re looking forward to that, and having a place that we can call our own.

“Sleeping in our own bed - that will be marvellous.”

Spence is also grateful for the kindness of strangers, including companies waiving charges, and reiterates how lucky he feels compared with others.

Fortunate perhaps, but like the O’Neills, Spence and his wife have endured a long winter of waiting.