Flooding on the Northwestern Motorway in Auckland on Tuesday. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Flooding on the Northwestern Motorway in Auckland on Tuesday. Photo / Jason Oxenham
EDITORIAL
The storm and flooding that hit Auckland and other parts on the North Island on Tuesday had both similarities and differences to January 27 for the country’s largest city.
Some progress was made between the costly weather bombs, but familiar problems arose. Far more improvement needs to be madeon two strands - resilience to such storms and a more effective transport network.
May 10. Illustration / Rod Emmerson
Communications about the storm were much better than in January. Weather agencies were active on social media in the morning. An emergency alert went out on phones at midday. An emergency was declared not long afterward. Local leaders were also on public channels, offering advice to people requiring shelter.
That all contributed to residents being more alert to the developing situation, the dangers and difficulties.
However, the most intense rain fell earlier in the day on Tuesday than was the case on January 27, and people tried to get out of the central city early rather than at rush hour.
This resulted in traffic gridlock, a bus network unable to cope, and stressed-out commuters delayed for hours. Major roads were flooded, schools were evacuated, and there were long lines for buses.
Unlike north of the bridge, there aren’t dedicated bus lanes around the city centre which allow constant space for buses outside rush hour peak traffic times. That could be changed for the main routes.
There’s the ongoing city rail project and other known ideas for having less traffic in downtown Auckland: More bus and cycle lanes; reducing the number of cars and parks allowed in the centre by hiking the prices for parking or a congestion charge; greater encouragement of working from home; a more reliable public transport network; a discount to encourage e-bike take-up along the lines of EVs.
At least this storm, while still tossing down bucketloads, didn’t have quite the extreme destructive punch of January 27 in the city - with the volumes of water greater four months ago and more homes affected.
The weather this week in Auckland has continued to be chaotic at a lower level, with thunder, hail, and lighting - including a wishbone-shaped strike on the Sky Tower.
Lightning striking the Sky Tower during the May 9 storm. Photo / Supplied
Other areas including Northland, Bay of Plenty and Waikato also dealt with heavy rain and flooding, and the Tuesday storm’s worst impact came in the north with the tragedy at Abbey Caves.
Most importantly, in the past four months, there has been no progress on the basic problem Auckland faces - that the city can’t absorb extremely heavy rain over hours and avoid widespread flooding, including on its motorways.
And though it’s not as important as having to cope with these disasters, there’s a reputational hit with that. Images and stories about the storm in “New Zealand’s largest city” went around the world as they did in January.
It’s the opposite of the early pandemic praise - we’re showing systemic failures rather than positive competence. If this becomes the new normal, people may wonder “why can’t they sort it out?” the way Kiwis are reputed in the US with gun violence.
Areas known to regularly flood should be the immediate focus. There are ways to increase the ability to absorb water besides upgrading the stormwater pipes. Large areas of greenery, wetlands, and decorative strips of plants and trees along roads can soak up water. The use of more porous concrete in central parts of the city would improve drainage.
This can’t be allowed to be the new normal, and not just because we can’t afford the basic cost of these events, which we know are becoming more common with climate change.
The city needs urgency on these problems. It doesn’t need reviews and the expert advice is here to tap into. What’s required is leadership that can settle on achievable goals.
Auckland needs a practical plan now, ranging from ideas that can make a difference immediately, to others that will take longer to make a difference.
We are well past the “why is this happening?” stage. We are stuck in the mud of costly climate consequences. And we will see a lot more of it.
