Memories of Gabrielle come flooding back

Monday, 16 February 2026

Pohangina resident Donna Mercer overlooking the valley and its swollen river.

A rising river brought with it evocative memories of Cyclone Gabrielle for residents in Pohangina Valley.

Waking up Monday morning to the swollen Pohangina River rushing below her property, amid a state of emergency and severe weather warning, was more breathtaking than frightening for Donna Mercer.

“Just to watch the destruction, as much as it's destroying everything, it's like ‘wow’! Mother Nature, the channels, where the water is coming from. It's really cool,” she said.

When she and her husband received the Civil Defence red alert on Sunday night they weren’t shocked or scared. They bunkered down, wrapped up with the dogs, and reflected on the carnage of three Februaries ago, when Cyclone Gabrielle devastated the valley.

A flooded Pohangina Valley, with beehives that were not saved in time from the rising waters.

At that time, the Mercers faced their own battles, grieving the recent deaths of their son Tommy and dog Gabbie.

When Gabrielle roared through the region, Mercer was reminded of her son's nickname ‘’Little Tommy Thunder’’, and when the Cyclone was coined ‘’Gabbie’’ she couldn’t help but smile.

“It was ‘Little Tommy Thunder’ and his dog ‘Cyclone Gabrielle’. It was amazing just to watch what nature can do … the water was like this now and the trees just went pop, pop, pop, pop.”

Cyclone Gabrielle was top of mind for residents in the lower lying parts of Pohangina too, particularly for farmers who have only just recovered mentally, financially, and physically from 2023.

Madeline Annand lived up the road from the Pohangina campsite and was “a little bit worried” Sunday night for her husband's parents as their farm was lashed in 2023.

A popular campsite beginning to vanish as the river rises.

Annand said her husband was checking the river levels throughout the night and didn’t get to sleep until the river started receding at about 3am.

“There’s been a bit of angst about the river and work going into it to prevent future issues,” she said.

Residents out and about at the river’s edge were in agreement the early warnings from officials meant this storm didn’t cause the same shock and surprise as Gabrielle or other past weather events.

Horizons Regional Council chief executive Michael McCartney said council staff had been in action throughout the weekend to ensure people and infrastructure were properly prepared.

“Given the impact storms can have on our communities, we wanted to tell people well in advance about the weather.'

Cyclone Gabrielle paved the way for significant upgrades to environmental data monitoring networks in 2025 throughout Manawatū-Whanganui which had shown their “value” over the past 48 hours, McCartney said, .