Scale of damage on Coromandel hasn't been seen before - mayor
Tuesday, 14 February 2023
Cyclone Gabrielle “smashed” an already sodden Coromandel and some isolated communities were still without road access or phone communication on Tuesday afternoon.
The storm flooded rivers and roads, downed trees and left many unable to contact loved ones or emergency services.
“We have still got limited access across the district,” Thames-Coromandel mayor Len Salt said in an interview on Tuesday.
“We are kind of used to this, but this is a scale we haven’t seen before.”
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Salt said the road network had been “smashed”, with many roads closed, blocked or impassable.
“It’s been pretty rough overnight.
“Every part of the State Highway and local roading network is compromised,” he said.
This meant people were unable to access medical treatment, amongst other things, which was a real concern.
Salt said cell towers remained down in Whangamatā, Tairua, Opoutere, and Onemana as of 1pm on Tuesday.
As a result there were still unreachable communities, and it was difficult to check if people were okay or needed help.
Salt said he would not rest easy until those communities were reached, because the number one priority was people’s wellbeing.
“The good news is that I’ve had no direct reports of injuries. But we are still trying to access people.”
A helicopter was available for emergencies, and an emergency evacuation plan was ready.
He said a break in the weather had allowed road crews to get out and try their best to return access. He hoped cell towers could be fixed quickly once access via road was possible.
The reason this time was so bad was because of the “cumulative” weather events, he said.
The district had 1.55m of rainfall since the beginning of January, which was “extraordinary” and meant the district was saturated before Cyclone Gabrielle arrived.
Welfare centres had been set up but weren’t too busy, Salt said. He believed advising people to evacuate early and stay elsewhere with family and friends had made the difference.
Salt said the council started discussions with the government about its roads four weeks ago, because it would need help repairing them.
A major landslide after previous bad weather took out more than 100 metres of State Highway 25A, a main route into the district, and Cyclone Gabrielle was expected to cause more damage.
“Roading resilience is crucial for our people,” Salt said.
He said the council “cleaned out” the last of its emergency roading fund before November last year, and there had been six weather events since.
“We can’t do this own our own.”
Salt said any resources that became available as a result of the National emergency declaration would be appreciated.
“We are pretty resilient. People are storm wary, they are tired. Business people are wondering what the future looks like.”
“I’m not going to say everyone is sunshine and roses because that wouldn’t be true. Our folks are really hoping for some good news and some relief at the end of this.”
However, in an era of climate change, people needed to prepare for a future that is different from what we have seen before.
He said his heart went out to people north of Auckland, Auckland, Napier and Hawke’s Bay, who were hit hard by the cyclone.
“We are all in this together, it’s not just us.”