The tragedy has hit hard in Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti Gisborne, where seven people have now been confirmed dead, including a 2-year-old girl and the father of a rugby league star. Two others - volunteer firefighters - died after a landslip at Muriwai.
As of 2pm today, there have been 5608 reports of uncontactable people registered and 1196 reports from people registering that they are safe.
At a Beehive briefing today, Police Deputy Commissioner Glenn Dunbier said staff were working through that list and it was quite a small group that police were particularly concerned about - fewer than 10 people.
He urged anybody reported as unaccounted for and who was now safe to contact officials.
Dunbier said there remained nine confirmed deaths. Police were continuing to investigate a potential tenth person who could have died as a result of the cyclone.
Dunbier said rumours had “come and gone” about multiple deaths but all known deaths had been reported.
They were working on contacting those still unaccounted for.
Dunbier said there were about 100 extra police staff working in the eastern district.
Asked about reports of people’s homes in Hawke’s Bay being burgled or scoped out for burglaries, Dunbier says “business as usual” carries on for officers throughout these types of events.
”We would take a hard line on anyone taking advantage of a state of emergency and we will arrest and prosecute anyone we find doing that.
“At the same time, our communities are largely pulling together through all this and I would say that would overwhelmingly be in the minority that was occurring.”
Getting into communities
National Emergency Management Agency acting director Roger Ball visited many of the affected areas this week and said there had been amazing efforts from first responders.
This was a “massive event” for New Zealand and the biggest damage he had ever seen.
The main priority was making contact with isolated communities and getting supplies in.
Tairāwhiti Civil Defence had reached 90 per cent of their communities and planned to reach 100 per cent by the end of today.
In Hawke’s Bay, reaching those isolated communities was also the priority. Ball said he did not know the exact number remaining in Hawke’s Bay but as they were impacted last it was taking a bit longer to reach them.
In Wairoa, by the end of today, they would have completed their rapid assessments.
Getting fuel to Wairoa was a priority and BP was looking to get fuel there today by road.
Cell towers were also a priority. In Hawke’s Bay, 90 per cent were operating, 80 per cent were operating in Northland and 30 per cent in Gisborne. In Tairāwhiti Chorus was working to restore broadband over the weekend.
Some power was also back in Napier but about 39,000 people remained without power in Hawke’s Bay and 62,000 across the country.
The Gisborne water plant kicked back in this morning, Ball said, with equipment having arrived yesterday with the NZDF.
This meant the taps were back on in the area after residents yesterday were told to immediately stop using water.
The town faced a water crisis after the main water supply line fractured in seven places, including some passages where bridges had been taken out.
The backup water plant that treated water from the Waipaoa River had also been damaged but this was now repaired and could process 2.5 million litres per day.
A health officer with supplies was being flown into Te Puia.
Ball said there were reports of aggression towards people assisting and urged the community to remain calm and respectful.
Ball said the country could be proud of the support shown.
NZDF had 600 members out on the ground, four aircraft and seven helicopters along with trucks and ships. Another ship was due to sail from Christchurch next week with more supplies.
On Esk Valley and if there could have been better warnings ahead of the cyclone, Ball said there would be an opportunity to review and reflect but currently, it was focused on the urgent response.
Fire and Emergency NZ’s Paul Turner said he wanted to acknowledge the Muriwai volunteer fire brigade, which had lost two of its firefighters.
Eight people from the USAR Australian contingent arrived yesterday and other groups of 12 and five would arrive today.
There were 58 cyclone-related jobs yesterday and 290 others. FENZ completed 980 building assessments over 200 moderate to totally damaged.
Money better than donated goods
Money donations were the most effective way to support, Ball said. Donated goods - while well-intentioned - did not always match the community’s needs. Instead, NEMA was encouraging donations to relief funds.
People affected by the disaster can contact the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) to apply for a Civil Defence Payment.
So far MSD has paid $20 million to about 40,000 people affected by Cyclone Gabrielle.
General manager Blair McKenzie said they were working with community partners and other agencies and had people on the ground in Tairāwhiti and elsewhere, providing welfare support for communities cut off from power, food, water or accommodation.
McKenzie said they had expanded the capacity of the phone lines and on Thursday had 9061 calls on flood lines.
Local Civil Defence teams are responsible for immediate accommodation needs. Immediate assistance is available at civil defence centres in the affected areas.
In Auckland people can now register with the Temporary Accommodation Service (TAS) on 0508 754 163. TAS will be in contact within 2 working days to understand people’s needs.
If someone already staying in emergency housing has to evacuate, McKenzie said they would support them to find alternative emergency housing. They can access immediate support and guidance from civil defence.
‘Grave fears’
Earlier, Civil Defence said the landslide risk in Piha and Muriwai remains high. About 20 homes were evacuated in Piha due to land instability, and an exclusion zone is in place for a large part of Muriwai.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins yesterday warned there were also “grave fears” for others, given 4549 people were still listed as uncontactable by whānau and friends.
Almost 2000 people also remained in evacuation centres in Hawke’s Bay, while potentially up to 1000 residents in that region and Tairāwhiti were beyond the reach of emergency services.
Teams – including a specialist Australian crew flying in to help – were keenly focused on establishing regular contact with cut-off communities and restoring essential services to the wider areas where food, water, power and communications remained in limited supply.
Water was an acute problem in Gisborne, with authorities yesterday declaring a crisis and asking residents to stop using the precious resource.
Napier in Hawke’s Bay was also still without power on Friday evening, leaving thousands without refrigerated food and internet connections.
Hipkins said that – having now toured both regions - the scale of the devastation he witnessed was horrific.
“Life on the ground in the affected areas is incredibly tough, and it’s going to be for some time to come,” he said.
