Source: Radio New Zealand
A slip blocking a road near Te Araroa. Te Araroa Civil Defence / supplied
Four days on from a devastating storm, pockets of whānau remain cut off from one another on the East Coast.
The communities were still isolated following widespread flooding and slips, with helicopters delivering supplies.
Te Araroa – one of the worst-hit areas – has just been reconnected to Gisborne via State Highway 35 to the south.
According to local Four Square duty manager Wiremu Henare, the opening of the road – three times a day to allow convoys into the township – could not have come soon enough.
“They let a truck through yesterday, so our supplies are real good at the moment. We were running low on some stuff like bread, eggs, and flour, but we are stocked up again.”
The store has been working alongside Civil Defence to help whānau still cut off.
“We probably supply close to… 20-30 families at the moment, that’s out Horoera ways, East Cape, because they’re trapped at the moment.
“We have a team on the ground that’s got four-wheeler buggies and they go round on low tide and supply families with groceries.”
He said it was a beautiful part of the coast, but the entrance – surrounded by hills – was vulnerable to slips.
They had been pulling some big shifts in the store, he said, with one half of his team still cut off in Hicks Bay.
Emergency management controller Ben Green said while the opening of the highway to Te Araroa was a win, it was a different story further north, with the Hicks Bay area likely to remain physically isolated for another week.
He said about 30-odd houses in nearby Onepoto – evacuated due to the risk of landslide over the weekend – were yet to be given the all-clear.
Hinerupe Marae – the Civil Defence base and welfare centre in Te Araroa. Te Araroa Civil Defence / supplied
Local Civil Defence kaimahi Trudi Ngāwhare said communities on the East Coast were no strangers to extreme weather, but it still took its toll.
“You want to help, you want to get in there and help and do what you can, but all we could do was watch it happen – and that was horrible to be honest, and you really feel for our whānau.
“A few people woke up and… lost everything. And then we hear our Hicks Bay whānau’s cut off, cut off for days.”
She said the level of destruction has been surprising, leaving a nearby mountain range with “open gash wounds”.
With multiple slips in the area, there was “quite a bit of mess,” and Ngāwhare begged people not to go sight-seeing.
Since the torrential rain, Hinerupe Marae – the Civil Defence base and welfare centre in Te Araroa – had been humming, she said, hosting about 30-40 people at any one time.
Helpers at Hinerupe Marae – the Civil Defence base and welfare centre in Te Araroa. Te Araroa Civil Defence / supplied
“A lot of people to feed… even our kitchen crew has been going hard.”
Ngāwhare said the next few days would be more of the same, and responding to where the need was greatest.
“The needs change everyday depending on how long your power’s out, how long your road’s closed.
“Just keeping dynamic, I guess, and we’ll only know what we need as the day rolls on and plan for the next day.”
She said the support from people “all around the motu” had been heard and felt, and wanted to express “huge gratitude” for everyone’s kind words, karakia, and donations.
“We’ll get there.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand