Cyclone Gabrielle looting: Wairoa mayor Craig Little says ‘lowlifes’ should be jailed forever

As “lowlifes” continue to take advantage of those impacted by the deadly devastation of Cyclone Gabrielle – including looting shops and evacuated homes – Wairoa mayor Craig Little has called on the culprits to be “jailed for life”.

The Hawke’s Bay town has been another area impacted by crime following last week’s deadly cyclone, Little confirmed.

Farther south in Napier, there have been looting and theft issues; with some communities setting up their own checkpoints and also road workers at a barricade having firearms pulled on them.

As the clean-up continues in Wairoa, and amid further warnings of heavy rain today, Little hit out at the anti-social behaviour.

He said he was aware of several reports of incidents in his district, including break-ins.

“It is just lowlife stuff; how could you do that to people who have lost everything?” Little told the Herald.

“They are just lowlifes that we don’t want [here], go somewhere else. It is just disgusting; it is just shocking.

“Don’t downplay it. If it is happening, get those guys locked up and put away forever. You never should ever get an advantage out of people’s downfall.”

Over successive nights in the past week, the sound of the police Eagle helicopter flying has been a common one for people in Napier.

Crime incidents in the days after Cyclone Gabrielle hit saw Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise call for the armed forces to be called in to assist the police.

It came after reports of looting in the city, including homes that had been evacuated.

The Herald has also been told that when power was restored to the Napier CBD last Friday night and early hours of Saturday morning, some stores’ electric doors automatically opened and thieves entered and stole goods.

Both police top-brass and the Government have said they don’t believe there are widespread crimes being committed, something which is infuriating locals who have been targeted. Police numbers throughout Hawke’s Bay have increased over the past week.

And yesterday, Tairāwhiti Police Area Commander Sam Aberahama – in charge of the region covering Poverty Bay and East Coast – said there had been “instances of people who have exploited this disaster to commit dishonesty offences”.

“This is disgusting behaviour and we have zero tolerance for it. Our patrols and staff on the ground are ensuring that our community is not seeing a marked increase in criminal activity,” Aberahama said.

“But the facts are that we have had fewer reports of dishonesty offences than in the weeks before this disaster – from seven per day prior to February 14 down to four per day over the past 10 days.

“What we don’t need are the false and mischievous speculation and stories that crime is rampant and there is lawlessness everywhere. It does nothing but make people who have been through so much, feel much worse.”

Wairoa Mayor Craig Little has hit out at thieves targeting those suffering, thankful no flooding deaths in the town. Photo / Neil Reid

In Wairoa, Little said the timing of when the devastation of Cyclone Gabrielle started being felt there had avoided widespread loss of life in the district.

The worst of the weather - and byproducts such as flooding, slips and bridge and road collapses – came in the daylight hours.

Those further south in and around Napier and Hastings were slammed by the cyclone last Monday night and during the hours of darkness last Tuesday.

But Little said everyone in Wairoa had been accounted for.

“We were happy it happened in the hours of the morning, and not the hours of the night,” he said.

“Otherwise we would have lost a lot of people.”

The Wairoa district was cut off initially by Cyclone Gabrielle; with SH2 north to Gisborne and south to Napier being blocked by a series of slips.

Household items stripped from the inside of a flood-hit Wairoa home after Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / RNZ, Jonty Dine

Work crews incredibly managed to open the northbound route late last month.

But SH2 southbound to Napier is likely to be closed to the public for up to three months given the damage.

Little stressed long-term recovery depended on government support and allowing councils to push on with what they knew had to be done.

“This silt is contaminated,” he said.

“We need to get it out from around people’s houses so we need to get it out so people can get back into their house.

“At the moment people want to get back into their houses. A lot of these people are uninsured. [If we can’t get them back in] we will end up with a ghetto with all these empty houses.”

Little said the Wairoa District Council had raised “a lot of money ourselves” for the response; including a Givelittle of more than $116,000 and about $800,000 from their mayoral fund.

“I am not using that on stuff the government should be paying [for],” he said.

“At the moment volunteers and contractors have been stripping out houses and getting rid of their rubbish and contaminated soil from around their sections.

“We want people to know there is light at the end of the tunnel for them. It [the damage] is shocking.”

Given the vast cyclone damage in other parts of Hawke’s Bay, Little said the plan in his district was for a “for Wairoa, Wairoa and iwi led recovery partnered with the council”.