Bridge on Rakaiatai Road, near Dannevirke is no match for the swollen Manawatu River. Video / Supplied
Politicians are being warned of the ongoing consequences of Cyclone Gabrielle for New Zealand communities even as the most devastating weather appears to subside.
Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty spoke to Parliament this afternoon on the response to the cyclone that prompted New Zealand’s third national state of emergency tobe declared this morning.
Representatives from all parties said they supported the declaration but some questioned McAnulty on the timing of the decision and what assistance the Government would provide to the thousands affected by the cyclone.
Northland, Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Coromandel, Waikato, Hawke’s Bay, Tairāwhiti and the Tararua District, which declared a local state of emergency have now been included in the national declaration.
A firefighter trapped by a collapsed house in Auckland’s Muriwai - believed to be local vet Dave van Zwananberg - has yet to be found as crews evacuate more residents in what officials say is still a “dangerous” cyclone-hit area.
Muriwai was included by emergency management officials when identifying particular areas of concern, alongside Esk Valley in Hawke’s Bay, Dargaville in Northland, and Tairāwhiti.
Power was out to tens of thousands around the country - including 44,000 people in Auckland. Transpower has declared a “grid emergency” in parts of Hawke’s Bay, warning it will be “days and weeks” rather than hours before electricity is restored.
McAnulty, addressing MPs in the House during the first sitting of Parliament for the year, said recent weeks had been an “exceptionally tough time for people across Aotearoa”, after flooding that predominately hit Auckland and parts of Northland from late last month.
He referenced the missing firefighter, as well as another in a critical condition, in his recognition of first responders, volunteers, emergency management staff and all those who had contributed to the response.
Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty directs his comments towards the Opposition. Photo / Mark Mitchell
However, McAnulty expressed caution to any who believed the damage was over.
“We aren’t out of the woods yet.”
He said severe weather was still expected today but could ease tomorrow and Thursday.
About 200 New Zealand Defence Force personnel had been deployed with more than 100 in Auckland. The remainder were assisting operations such as evacuations in Coromandel and Hawke’s Bay.
About $14 million in Civil Defence payments had been made to almost 27,000 people since the first Auckland floods, but McAnulty predicted further support would be necessary.
“Welfare and infrastructure needs are expected to increase. We can expect the recovery to be long and complex in many areas.”
National Party emergency management spokesman Gerry Brownlee expressed his support for McAnulty’s move to declare a national state of emergency.
“This event is still unfolding so this is the right thing to do,” he said.
In an earlier press conference, it was acknowledged some local response teams hadn’t requested a national state of emergency be declared.
Brownlee, echoing earlier comments made by McAnulty, hoped local staff would see the declaration as a benefit to their response.
“This national state of emergency should be seen as an affirmation of the work they are doing and the scale of the disaster they are trying to mitigate.”
The Waikare River Bridge near Putorino in northern Hawke's Bay collapsed today as a result of Cyclone Gabrielle.
Greens Party co-leader James Shaw also supported the declaration but struggled to describe his feelings, citing decades of denial about climate change and its causes.
“We need to stop making excuses for inaction. We must act now.”
He and Greens MP Elizabeth Kerekere took the chance to question McAnulty on the performance of emergency management networks and the support for vulnerable communities.
McAnulty assured them reviews into the cyclone’s response would produce lessons and he expressed his own belief the impacts of severe weather were most keenly felt by low-income, rural and isolated communities.
Act Party leader David Seymour probed McAnulty on why the state of national emergency was not declared sooner, to which McAnulty said the decision was made as soon as the regular briefings from emergency management staff indicated it would be beneficial to coordinate the response nationally.
While he expected the recovery phase would be long, McAnulty assured Seymour the national state of emergency - initially in place for seven days - would not remain for longer than it was useful.
Seymour was followed by an impassioned statement from Act’s primary industries spokesman and Northland farmer Mark Cameron, who said he would be heading home to hand-milk 300 cows for weeks because his Ruawai farm had lost power.
Earlier today, National leader Christopher Luxon said “we should be here doing our job and with respect to Parliament this week’s events have superseded it”.
“Our view is we should be here in person where we can do business here,” Luxon said.
