CYCLONE GABRIELLE - 18/02 GENERAL UPDATE

The Tararua District remains under the National State of Emergency that was declared on Tuesday 14 February. This will remain in force for 7 days.

This update will cover:

• focus of the Emergency Operations Centre
• welfare support available
• road status and road safety
• updates on water and power
• information on building inspections
• animal welfare
• outreach missions
• advice on cleaning out damaged household items; and
• ways you can help
• next update.

EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTRE

The focus in the Emergency Operations Centre today has been continuing our community outreach operations to assess and manage welfare needs and making sure that people know that support is available.

We also received a visit in the EOC from Kieran McAnulty, Minister for Emergency Management and Minister for Local Government and the Central Hawke's Bay District Mayor, Alex Walker.

Minister McAnulty and Mayor Walker joined Tararua District Mayor Tracey Collis for a helicopter flyover to further assess the extent of the cyclone damage across our the Tararua and Central Hawke’s Bay communities.

WELFARE SUPPORT AVAILABLE

If you are isolated and have welfare needs, please contact us on 06 374 4080 or 06 376 0110 and let our teams know. Please remember to check on your neighbours (if it is safe to do so) and if you know of someone who you think needs our help, please contact us.

We are able to support with:

• access to food, water and household goods, such as fuel and medicine
• shelter/accommodation for anyone that is displaced
• assistance with animal/stock welfare (including access, rescue, evac, food/water, sick/injured, escaped or critical services for production animals)
• advice on financial support that is available
• any other welfare needs

ROAD STATUS

The current status of all roads in the Tararua District can be found on our website at www.tararuadc.govt.nz/services/roading. If you do not have internet access, please call us on 06 374 4080 or 06 376 0110 and ask one of our team to check the road status for you.

ROAD SAFETY

Safety is our top priority during this response to Cyclone Gabrielle. Our teams have closed roads for a very good reason. They are currently not safe for the public to use. Especially the roads in the north east of our District.

Driving a closed road puts yourself, others, and our roading teams at risk. It also makes it difficult for our roading teams to do their vital work of assessing damage and planning the huge job of repairs. Please also be aware that insurances will be invalid while driving on a road that has been closed. The police are helping to monitor roads that have been closed.

WATER

Ākitio - Boil water notice remains in place until further notice. Bottled water is available at the Akitio Boat Club for people to collect. Treatment plant is back in operation and we will commence water testing tomorrow.

Pongaroa - Boil water notice remains in place until further notice. A water tank is located at the community hall for members of the community to collect water.

Dannevirke - We continue to ask that Dannevirke residents conserve water as we remain solely reliant on the impounded water supply until Tamaki River water quality improves.

POWER

The power companies have done an incredible job restoring power to most places. There are still limited power outages in some areas and work continues to remedy these.

BUILDING INSPECTIONS

Our building inspectors are continuing to inspect properties following the flooding. Properties are receiving white, yellow or red stickers. Our team are providing information to property owners, but we've also created a webpage for people to get more information about what the different coloured stickers mean. You can see that here http://bit.ly/3Z2sc79

If your property has been damaged by the cyclone and has not been inspected, please contact us.

ANIMAL WELFARE

If you are in an isolated community and have animal welfare needs, please reach out to council on 06 374 4080 or 06 376 0110 so we can help.

If you are needing to leave your house, please take animals with you if you can (and everything you need for them). If you are concerned about dogs that have been in floodwaters, please call the vet before taking them in.

OUTREACH MISSIONS

Today, our community outreach team went to Akitio (Coast Road) and Weber to check on those communities and assess if they have any welfare needs. Majority of people visited today are ok and did not have any needs. Where there are priority cases, we are staying in close contact with these.

Since the beginning of this emergency event, we’ve conducted a total of 164 needs assessments with approximately 70% of these completed.

Tomorrow our teams will be heading out to Ti Tree Point and surrounds. We have reached out to residents along Esdaile and Glenora Roads to notify them we’ll be coming out. If you know someone in this area, please ask them to get in touch with us on 06 374 4080 or 06 376 0110.

ADVICE ON CLEANING-UP DAMAGED HOUSEHOLD ITEMS

If you’re cleaning up items from your home that have been damaged, it’s important to do this safely.

• Wear rubber gloves and sturdy footwear. It can also be good idea to wear a face mask.
• Cover any cuts and grazes before you start cleaning.
• Keep children and pets away while you’re cleaning
• Open your windows and doors to provide ventilation
• Throw away any food or drinking water that has been in contact with floodwaters.
• Do not eat food from your vege garden if it has been contaminated with floodwater
• REMINDER- take photos and videos of the damage before you start cleaning up for insurance purposes.

WAYS YOU CAN HELP

We are receiving offers of support from across the community and we are extremely grateful to our communities for their kindness. We’d love you to also keep sharing with your friends and family (especially those that don’t live here in Tararua) that our Mayoral Relief Fund is open. Donations will go directly to flood relief for the Tararua District. If you would like to donate, the account details are:

Account name:                 Tararua District Council

Account number:              03-0614-0088406-01

Reference code:               Flood Relief

If you have non-perishable food items that you would like to donate, you can drop these off at any Council Service Centre or Tararua Libraries.

We’ve also heard from our neighbours in Hawke’s Bay about how we can help. They’re especially in need of wet wipes, nappies, baby food and dry food. You can find out more about how you can help here: https://www.facebook.com/HBShow

And finally, you can help by reporting any faults or damage that you see. Our customer service teams are available 24/7. If there is something that needs to be reported, we urge you to do so. Even if it is something you feel we may know about. The more information, the better!

NEXT UPDATE

Our teams will be back on deck tomorrow and will provide a morning update at 10:00am.

Some helpful links and resources are below:

Roading info for our district:
https://www.tararuadc.govt.nz/services/roading/current-road-status

Up to date Information on river heights and rainfall is available via Horizons 24-hour toll free Waterline 0508 4 FLOOD or via www.horizons.govt.nz

State Highway info:
https://www.journeys.nzta.govt.nz/traffic

For up-to-date weather forecasts and warnings:
https://www.metservice.com/warnings/home

Civil defence flood relief payments:
https://www.workandincome.govt.nz/products/a-z-benefits/civil-defence-payment.html

Civil defence support info:
https://www.civildefence.govt.nz/resources/news-and-events/news-and-events/cyclone-gabrielle-february-2023/