Concerns family has been stuck on roof for 10 hours and counting
Tuesday, 14 February 2023
Police have set up a Major Operations Centre at police national headquarters in response to Cyclone Gabrielle
People who have friends or family uncontactable in storm-affected areas are able to use an online form to register their names, available here.
Police are urging people to try their usual methods of communication first, whether that’s a phone number, email, social media or a pre-planned emergency meeting place.
An additional 12 staff with search and rescue skills have been deployed to the eastern districts and further support is under consideration, police say.
Cara Whittaker fears her friend and their family have been stuck on a roof in Hawke’s Bay for 10 hours and counting.
Whittaker, who was based in Wellington, said she last heard from her friend Vinnie at about 10am on Tuesday.
Flooding brought on by Cyclone Gabrielle had risen to the roof where Vinnie and her partner and three children were trapped at their Puketapu home.
It was one of the areas where evacuations took place after the entire Hawke’s Bay region was declared under a state of emergency.
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“She said she just wanted to get the children out and by the time she’d gone back into the house, it was full of water,” Whittaker said.
“I’m the only one that’s heard from her … They were desperate to get off the roof.”
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The region was included in the national state of emergency which was declared by Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty at 8.43am after a night of extreme weather which left towns cut off across the North Island.
Whittaker had managed to get in contact with Fire and Emergency who told her they would send crews to help her friend “but it turned out nobody could access them”, she said.
After Vinnie and her partner’s phones died, she said it was impossible to tell whether they had been rescued or not.
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“That was quite a few hours they couldn’t be accessed, I don’t know where it’s at now.
“If they’re not evacuated yet, they’ve been on that roof for 10, 11 hours.”
Meanwhile, the last Devon-Leigh Richardson heard from her family in a rural town, Matawai, an hour outside of Gisborne was 7pm on Monday.
Richardson, whose dad, uncles, aunties and cousins were in Matawai where she grew up, said she was frustrated by the lack of communication from Gisborne Civil Defense and Gisborne District Council which she made multiple attempts to get in touch with.
“We’re just so worried,” she said. “It’s just so difficult for me to process.”
Power had been restored to some parts of Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne following a warning that customers in the region should be prepared to be without power for “days or weeks”.
But despite some progress, there was no certainty on Tuesday afternoon on when power and communications services might be more widely repaired.
Richardson, who was based in Christchurch, said she was particularly worried about her cousin who had recently given birth prematurely due to suffering with pre-eclampsia and had severe type 2 diabetes, requiring medication four times a day.
“She was still receiving hospital care … I’m really worried about her,” she said.
The population of about 600 people in the town – many of whom were elderly, were cut off from the nearest Civil Defence community set up in Te Karaka, Richardson said.
State Highway 2 between Ōpōtiki and Gisborne was closed, with Matawai located in between. The Otoko hill range was previously damaged by Cyclone Hale, she said, while a large slip closed a lane just five days ago.
Richardson said there was “not an ounce of support” for the community during Cyclone Hale. “Not even an outreach, there was nothing.”
There were only two small community-run shops in the town which Richardson feared were closed and preparation for Cyclone Gabrielle was hampered due to the road conditions.
Richardson said the weather began picking up when she was last in contact with her father on Monday evening and feared not being able to speak with her family again.
“I just want to be able to speak to my Dad… I would just love to know what’s happening with the family.
“It is not easy sitting with heavy heart not knowing what is going on.”