Cyclone Gabrielle: Coromandel still recovering a year after flooding

It’s February, the sun’s out, the surf’s up, people are flocking to the beaches - It’s hard to imagine a Kiwi summer to be any different.

However, at this time a year ago, the Coromandel and Hauraki districts had declared a state of emergency.

Ex-tropical Cyclone Hale had caused State Highway 25A to collapse, cutting off the main Kopu-Hikuai route.

Cyclone Hale was closely followed by Cyclone Gabrielle which temporarily cut off the Coromandel from the rest of the country, much like the Gisborne District.

Roads in the Coromandel were left flooded by metres of water, described by Civil Defence as “absolutely impassable”, while a third of the district was without power.

There were cars abandoned on the roads and water could be seen lapping at doorsteps.

Cathedral Cove and its much-loved walkway were closed at the beginning of February last year, with a re-opening date still up in the air now.

Thames-Coromandel District mayor Len Salt said the region was still recovering from the impacts of the flooding and weather events, but things were looking up.

“We continue to have our sleeves rolled up working on our ongoing recovery from not just Gabrielle, but Cyclone Hale in January 2023 and the Auckland Anniversary heavy rain event, which heavily impacted the Coromandel.

“A year ago, we were in emergency mode... We’d already gone through a month of bad weather, which had come on top of several months of unusually heavy rain... We were extremely fortunate to come through Cyclone Gabrielle with no fatalities.

Two people wade through waist-high water after abandoning their car on the raod to Hahei. Photo / Matthew Davidson

“We experienced a steep decline in visitor numbers during 2023, [but] great progress has been made [since].”

State Highway 25A between Kōpū and Hikuai has reopened in December, thanks to the new 124-metre Taparahi Bridge, and tourists are flocking back to the region.

“Visitor numbers have been strong over the summer, buoying our tourism and hospitality sector,” Salt said.

Especially over the past two long weekends the Coromandel had seen “an influx of visitors”, he said.

Destination Hauraki Coromandel general manager Hadley Dryden said in January that the local tourism sector felt positive about this summer.

“Locals and visitors are enjoying open roads, fine weather, calm seas - it feels like the recovery from weather events this time last year has truly begun.

“Businesses are happily busy again.”

However, Salt said the region had yet to make a full recovery.

“It will take many, many more months... Our economy is in no way back to where were before these weather events hit. Rebuilding our road network as well as supporting our communities will take time.”

Danielle Zollickhofer is a multimedia journalist and assistant news director at the Waikato Herald. She joined NZME in 2021 and is based in Hamilton.

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