Devastating slips at Muriwai following Cyclone Gabrielle. Video / George Heard
As acting mayor during the approach of Cyclone Gabrielle, Lesley Immink says she is proud of the Whakatāne District Council’s response to what could have easily been a serious disaster management situation.
She said other Bay of Plenty coastal areas, such as Waihi, Maketu and Pukehina all experienced storm surges, while the Eastern Bay managed to get away with only some slips on State Highways 2 and SH30, temporarily cutting off the roads to Tauranga and Rotorua.
Trees had also fallen over Galatea Rd and onto power lines and there was a little flooding on Thornton Hall Rd, but these were resolved quickly.
Energy distribution company Horizon Networks reported that about 800 customers in Awakeri, Otakiri, Manawahe, Pikowai, Galatea and Ohiwa had lost power.
“Our teams are assessing the damage and will start repairs and restorations as the day progresses,” operations manager Shane Piaray said.
“We absolutely dodged a bullet,” Immink said.
“We were just in this little lee of the storm. The inundation didn’t happen as we thought, because the [expected] level of the rain didn’t come. The most damage has been from the wind and the slips.
While rough seas scattered debris over the parking areas at West End, Ōhope, the area avoided any serious damage. Photo /Sven Carlsson
“We really are relieved. When we saw this morning what’s happening in Tairāwhiti, Auckland and Hawkes Bay, we’re actually not sure how we dodged that bullet, because all the indicators were there that it would hit us.
“The wind was south-east, not north-east. If that had been a north-easterly wind, those surges would have been completely different,” Immink said.
Whakatāne council declared a state of emergency at 3pm on Monday after modelling predicted storm surges could affect low-lying coastal properties.
“We had some really good modelling from regional council. The projection was that by the time the 1.30am high tide came we’d have another surge of about half a metre, plus high winds and high rain. That’s really why we decided to go early.”
Homes at West End, Ōhope and about nine homes on Harbour Road, were mandatorily evacuated.
Immink said it was a very successful evacuation, although Local Democracy Reporting understands that some people, who had access to higher ground where they felt they would have been safe from storm surges, avoided authorities, choosing to stay hidden in their homes.
“Earlier in the day we had been phoning some of those homes that we thought might be affected and letting them know that self-evacuation was encouraged, and mandatory might come along.
“We had a peaceful evacuation once the state of emergency was declared. Most people had already got themselves organised and stayed the night with friends and family. We had a few people staying at the holiday park and the Whakatane War Memorial Hall.
“Police were aware of one person who refused to leave but as they were stationed nearby, they kept an eye on them and monitored the situation.”
She was not aware of any others refusing to leave.
“If people hide from us there’s not really much we can do,” she said.
A police cordon on West End Road in Ōhope, which was evacuated as a precaution against coastal storm surges. Photo / Sven Carlsson
The evacuation order was lifted at around midday Tuesday, though police kept the street cordoned off to non-residents until later in the afternoon.
The council’s Civil Defence Emergency Operations Centre was expected to wrap up operations late Tuesday afternoon.
Immink said the council staff response to the impending emergency was “very impressive”.
“We do have a very good, experienced, calm team and really good relationships with other agencies such as police, fire and St Johns. Unfortunately, we are experienced at disaster management.
“We had a 24-hour team on. It was incredible to see the staff move from everyday staff members, to running a very efficient emergency operation centre.
“We had the police, St John and the fire service all operating out of this building here at the [former] Fisher Quay building. That was our EOC. We also have a new team that is part of the emergency operations team, called Tau Tuhituhi that works with our Māori community.”
Immink said yesterday the state of emergency was expected to be lifted that afternoon, after the high tide had passed.
She said there were four slips on the Matatā straight still blocking State Highway 2.
“We had a logging truck that had broken down and another one came to assist him, and they got trapped between two slips. They are safe, and they are out, but Waka Kotahi have advised that State Highway 2 will be closed for 24 hours.”
Waka Kotahi announced yesterday that further slips blocking the road between Kawerau and Rotorua in the morning had since been cleared.
Immink said one disappointment for her was seeing criticism of Mayor Victor Luca on social media during the state of emergency.
“There were a few people who were being a bit mean on social media, saying, ‘well, where’s the mayor’.”
Luca had been on bereavement leave due to his father, Luigi Luca, having died last week.
“Someone else from the public dealt to them, and said, well, he’s had a family bereavement,” Immink said.
She said Luca had resumed his role by 8am Tuesday morning.
Ōpōtiki district also managed to escape any major damage from Cyclone Gabrielle, despite being the first district in the Eastern Bay to declare a state of emergency on Monday morning.
Most people were starting to leave evacuation centres and marae Tuesday morning to make their way home, and State Highway 35, closed to traffic on Monday night as a precautionary measure, was reopened to essential traffic just after midday.
Ōpōtiki Civil Defence spent the morning assessing any damage or issues along the East Coast, but initial indications were that the district had avoided the worst effects of the cyclone.
Four slips on State Highway 2's Matatā straight closed the road for at least 24 hours. Photo / Waka Kotahi NZTA
“Our low-lying coastal areas mostly appear in good shape,” Ōpōtiki controller Gerard McCormack said Tuesday.
Though the district would still be operating under the national state of emergency, Ōpōtiki district would not be the focus of national efforts.
“We’re really feeling for other parts of the country that have been hit so much harder. We are fortunate to be able to report minimal damage – it looks like State Highway 35 is largely in good condition, thanks to the defence force personnel who helped clear a few trees and debris.
“We don’t have any particular concerns with flooding at this point, although we can expect ongoing heavy rain and wind, but a bit more like a normal heavy weather pattern from here.
“Ōpōtiki runs quite a different civil defence approach than many others in the country and our iwi organisations work just so hard alongside civil defence through these events. A huge thank you to all the marae who opened their doors, kura and schools who gave up their halls (and their sleep) to provide a place for people to evacuate to if needed.
Thanks also to New Zealand Defence Force personnel who have been so hands-on and busy during their time here. Fire and Emergency New Zealand and Police as well, who have been visible, busy and a key part of our community response.
“We’ll have a busy few days on clean-up and returning to normal but we’ll also be offering support where we can to our neighbours and other parts of New Zealand,” McCormack said.
Ōpōtiki Mayor David Moore added his thanks both to the teams working in civil defence and the many partner organisations that had helped out over the past 48 hours.
“We made the decision to declare early so that we could use all the daylight hours possible to get prepared, knock on doors and have the resources we needed. Things could have been so much worse for us and we can see that in other places in the country – we are feeling for them right now.
“I am proud of the planning we did and want to thank everyone involved. A lot goes on in the background – a lot of coordination and planning in offices and on the ground. I know how hard people worked through the night and I want to pass on the appreciation from the community,” Moore said.
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