Toys, photos and furniture - the muddy floodwaters of Cyclone Gabrielle give up their victims

Friday, 17 February 2023

Whirinaki resident Hayley Greig has spent days cleaning up her swamped home, and is incredibly grateful for the help she and her family have received from volunteers.

The coastal settlement of Whirinaki is at the mouth of the Esk River north of Napier – a mouth that spewed a wall of water laden with silt and slash in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The people of Whirinaki are hurting, and the land itself has been forever scarred by the 25 metre-wide chasm that was ripped open by the power of the water whipped up by Cyclone Gabrielle.

Resident Hayley Greig spent Friday morning sorting through her family’s belongings, attempting to figure out what can be salvaged from the thick, oozing silt.

Volunteers help Greig as she removes mud-caked belongings from her home in the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle.

“We’ve lost everything, pretty much. It’s pretty soul-destroying to be honest. I certainly never thought I’d wake up or ever live through something like this.”

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Greig has lost everything after Cyclone Gabrielle tore through the small seaside town, even her children’s toys.

As she prepares to leave, she lists off the sentimental items being thrown into the back of a truck with a numbness in her voice that suggests the scale of the event hasn’t quite sunk in.

Volunteer Kathy Hull hugs Greig, right, as they try to clean up after Cyclone Gabrielle tore through the small seaside town north of Napier.

“I might keep that cot, because that’s my cot from when I was a little girl.”

When asked if her children’s artwork was ruined: “F…, I wish it wasn’t, but it is.”

The odd thing is able to be saved, but toys, photos and furniture are all thrown into the rubbish pile.

The people helping her are mostly strangers – all hands are on deck to help this devastated street.

“All our local Bay View residents, all their staff, just everyone … everyone has rallied together, they put out a call that we all need help and thousands of people have turned out to help all these houses.

A house that was swept off a relocation truck in Esk Valley ended up around a kilometre away in Whirinaki.

“We just couldn’t have imagined it, honestly, it’s just amazing.”

Most people have been cleaning up for two days. They’re still running on adrenaline, but the fragility is starting to show on their faces.

“It’s just devastating, it’s like a war zone out here if you have a look.”

Greig can’t hold back the tears as she reflects on what her family survived.

Whirinaki residents Lynn and Art Noanoa have lost everything after Cyclone Gabrielle, though their dog Nalu survived.

“I’m so glad we made it out. I don’t really care about all this stuff, I’m just glad my kids are OK.”

The settlement is effectively split into two. Every house on Pohutukawa Rd is full of water and silt, but over the back fence the waterfront houses on slightly higher ground have been spared.

That higher ground has become a safe space – a place for people to come together, find a bottle of clean water and get food that’s been donated from a local cafe or orchard.

Further down the street, Lynn and Art Noanoa are welcoming.

Household items start to pile up on the roadside as Whirinaki residents and volunteers clean up after Cyclone Gabrielle.

“Wipe your feet as you come in,” Art Noanoa jokes.

They’re in remarkably good spirits for people who have just lost everything.

The couple spent years building a home to retire to in “paradise”.

Like many people in the settlement, they were alerted to the rising water by their neighbours.

Lynn Noanoa said within five or 10 minutes the water was up to their necks, and as they frantically clambered over the fence to higher ground they made the heartbreaking decision to leave their dog behind.

Their 40kg german shepherd was too heavy to haul over the back fence. So Art Noanoa told the dog to stay, and they were forced to walk away. Against all odds, there he stayed for two hours, still doggy-paddling for his life when he managed to save her.

The dog’s name? Nalu. “It’s Hawaiian for big wave,” Lynn Noanoa explains.

“It was a bloody big wave alright.”

Lynn Noanoa has stayed relatively composed while walking through her house, but it’s the sight of her muddied wedding veil that puts tears in her eyes.

“I don’t think people really understand from afar, because I know we have never understood properly when you see someone else’s destruction, but when you’re standing in your own life it really hits home.”

They are grateful for the community spirit. Food has been donated, local tradies have organised portable toilets for the street and people are mucking in.

“This community has been amazing because we didn’t see any civil defence or anything like that because of the destruction. So the community … they’ve just had to do it”.

The community is the same one mourning the loss of 2-year-old Ivy Collins, who was swept away by the floodwaters on Tuesday morning.

The little girl was swept from her mum Ella Collins’ shoulders as the family waded through deep water from their swamped home to find safety.

Four days on, residents are finally confident that by some miracle, everyone else is accounted for.