The clean-up after the cyclone has begun in Hamilton where lots of trees have been fallen over, like this one at the Hamilton Lake Domain. Photo / Hamilton City Council
* Cyclone Gabrielle: Follow our live updates here
* Cyclone Gabrielle: All you need to know today
* Cyclone Gabrielle: When will the bad weather end in your region?
Hamilton is cleaning up after Cyclone Gabrielle struck the North Island overnight, but the city came through better than many parts of the country.
Hamilton City Council received more than 350 calls, 138 emails and 75 Antenno messages reporting issues or asking questions overnight as its teams have been working through the night.
The council says its thoughts are with those families and regions which have sustained severe and tragic losses.
Civil Defence Controller Kelvin Powell says the council’s current focus is cleaning up the damage from last night’s wind and rain.
“Our teams have been working through the night and today to clear trees, fallen branches, blocked drains, cleaning spills and other debris. Some of the larger trees will take time to clear so please be patient,” Powell says.
The full clean-up is likely to take weeks, the council says as it has to make sure an area is safe, before securing any powerlines, roads or buildings and clearing paths.
The council’s waters teams have also been out overnight to clean up pockets of floodwater, repair overflows and blocked drains, and check on gullies and streams. This is expected to continue for the next couple of days.
Powell says Hamilton’s drinking water is safe. “But please remember to stay away from floodwaters, streams, and gullies until these levels go down.”
Taitua Arboretum, Hamilton Lake Domain and playground, Innes Common sportsground carpark, low-lying river paths and the Matakanohi Reserve Te Awa path (between Ann Street and St Andrews Golf Course) are all currently closed.
Image 1 of 23: Flooding in Coromandel. Photo / Supplied
Hamilton Zoo will remain closed until at least Friday, February 17 due to fallen branches and debris around the site. Hamilton Garden’s enclosed gardens will reopen tomorrow, Wednesday, February 15.
Sports fields across the city are also closed to practice today.
Waterworld and Gallagher Aquatic Centre will be opening later today, to work on some equipment cut off during some power cuts. Check the Hamilton Pools Facebook Page for the latest update on opening times.
To report any Council weather-related issues including fallen trees and flooding, use the Antenno app in the first instance or call 07 838 6699.
Meanwhile, Thames-Coromandel District has been hit hard by Cyclone Gabrielle overnight. Roads in the Coromandel have been left flooded by metres of water, described by Civil Defence as “absolutely impassable”, while a third of the district is without power and “virtually every road” is closed.
This morning the Government declared a national state of emergency.
Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty says: ”This is an unprecedented weather event that is having major impacts across much of the North Island.”
Waikato’s Civil Defence and Emergency Management (CDEM) joint committee chairperson Anna Park declared a regional state of emergency last night.
She says the declaration was not intended to alarm people. “In fact, just the opposite. We want to reassure people we are taking the response seriously by throwing the weight of the region’s resources behind it,” Park says.
Coordinating the regional response allows the group controller to help prioritise the allocation of resources, like emergency and contracted services, to the most impacted areas of the region.
“Given the severity of the cyclone, the growing number of local declarations, and the closeness to other heavily impacted areas such as Auckland and the Bay of Plenty, we felt this is the right next step,” Park says.
Waikato District and Hauraki District Councils declared a state of emergency in their districts yesterday afternoon. Thames-Coromandel District Council has been in a state of emergency since the Auckland Anniversary weekend.
For other councils in the Waikato, the regional declaration does not automatically trigger a change to their current response arrangements.
Civil Defence group controller Julian Snowball says” “Most people in our region will not be impacted further by the regional state of emergency.”
In the Coromandel, at least 15 roads have been closed due to flood damage, teams are on standby at Koputauaki Bridge on Colville Rd in the event of any dam breach upriver of the bridge.
The closed roads include SH2 Paeroa to Waihi including Karangahake Gorge, SH25 Tairua to Hikuai, SH25 Whangamata to Waihi and Hot Water Beach Rd between SH 25 and Parangi Road.
Coromandel Civil Defence controller Garry Towler says: “We have certainly been pummelled. We have lost cell phone coverage in Whangamatā and Tairua and many of our coastal communities north and south of Whitianga, including places like Matarangi and Hahei.”
“We understand there may be water issues in some villages, so we’re asking people to conserve water until we can get things fixed,” he says.
Towler told TVNZ’s Breakfast show this morning that the region had been hit with over 400ml of rain overnight, combining with the gale-force winds to effectively “shut down” the Coromandel.
“Everything that was predicted to happen, happened,” he said.
“The entire Coromandel is totally cut off. There’s widespread surface flooding - it is quite bad.”
About 11 cellphone sites had come down too, he said. “We’ve lost all contact with the likes of Whangamatā.”
Talking on Mike Hosking’s Breakfast Show, Thames Coromandel District Council chief executive officer Aileen Lawrie said practically every road had unconfirmed slips on them.
“It’s across the whole region, the whole district has outages in various places, slips in lots of places,” Lawrie says.
“Bearing in mind we came into this with totally saturated soil, it’s not surprising we have slips everywhere. But our community have been fabulous, they’ve done the right thing.”
Lawrie understands the rain just passed, which she said was a relief.
However, the wind is expected to pick up later today which concerns council staff - the calm experienced in Whitianga this morning suggested it was encountering the eye of the storm.
“We’ve had five dress rehearsals this year so [the public] all knew what to do this morning, so far I’m not aware of anybody in life-threatening or risk situations,” she said.
The short-term focus for council staff will be to re-open key network roads to get the region back connected with the rest of the country.
The council is now asking all Thames-Coromandel District residents who are on Council’s public water supplies to conserve water for at least the next 48 hours.
In a Facebook Post earlier this morning, the council says that very heavy rain will mean that the streams it draws water from will be carrying a heavy sediment load.
“This will impact the speed at which our water treatment plants can work, and may even cause them to shut down. As a result, our treated water storage may reduce to lower-than-normal levels until the water source becomes cleaner.”
Meanwhile, Matamata-Piako District Council opened a Civil Defense Centre at Te Aroha’s Silver Fern Farms Events Centre, for anyone that would like to shower, use the toilet or get a cup of tea.
Tui Pa Marae (Tumutumu marae), located near Te Aroha, is available for those that need to self-evacuate and don’t have any friends or family to go to.
Please note, the marae is not able to house pets, if pet owners evacuate to the marae, they will need to arrange care for any pets elsewhere or call Matamata-Piako District Council’s after-hours animal control number 0800 746 467.
To make arrangements to evacuate to the marae please call June on 020 4010 8455.
All parks and walkways in Morrinsville are closed until the council team can carry out further inspections and they are safe to re-open.
The local wastewater networks are struggling to keep up, particularly the Te Aroha network is extremely under pressure. The council is asking residents to reduce water going into the network wherever they can.
Wastewater services may be unavailable to a number of properties such as around Pooles Road, Clark Ave and Aroha View Ave areas.
Matamata-Piako mayor Adrienne Wilcock says: “Last night was a long and sleepless one for many...Please continue to look after yourselves and check in on your neighbours and family - never underestimate how much a little love and care means during an emergency.”
As the year draws to a close, Waikato Herald is taking stock of 2024.
