 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
||
Emergency response-ability
Saturday 14th February 2004 was a blustery and wet night for residents in the lower North Island and top of the South Island. It was a good night to stay inside and have a quiet Valentine’s Day dinner. By Sunday morning any romantic mood had changed as the weather deteriorated, with intense rainfall swelling rivers and flooding large areas. Embankment slippages caused road closures and damaged bridges. The gale force winds that ripped through the regions felled trees that had stood for decades. The storm lasted from Sunday 15th February through to Monday 23rd and caused severe damage, particularly in the regions of Taranaki, Manawatu-Wanganui, Wellington, Hawkes Bay and Marlborough. The peak height of the Manawatu River was the second highest on record and the Rangitikei reached the third highest level since 1897.
Over 2,000 people were evacuated at the height of the emergency. There were many heartbreaking stories of families losing all their treasured possessions, farmers seeing stock swept away or drowned as they became entangled in debris-laden fencing. Tens of thousands of people had their daily activities disrupted through loss of infrastructure such as telecommunications, power, gas and water. In the Manawatu-Wanganui region more than twenty bridges were damaged, about half the roads (9,300 km) were closed and the Manawatu Gorge was closed for several months.
The positive side
There were a number of positives that came out of this emergency; community spirit kicked in and there was a tremendous outpouring of support, not just from neighbour supporting neighbour, but also from tourists chipping in to help with the cleanup and many other forms of assistance from around the country.
Another notable positive was that the civil defence and emergency management system was severely tested and found to be efficient and robust. One chief executive commented that, prior to the event, council staff had been trained in the various procedures and processes and he’d heard them talking in their ‘emergency management speak’. “On the day they were called upon to walk the talk they performed magnificently; I’m very proud of them.”
Many in local body management expressed similar thoughts about their civil defence staff: “These people are called upon only when normal systems and structures have failed, they bring order to chaos, they bring a lifeline to communities and they must bear some considerable credit that there was no loss of life as a direct result of the floods.”
The human face of the emergency
Eventually the floodwaters receded, the emergency was called off and most could return to their homes. For some, however, the emergency continued. Two months later there were still about 150 people unable to return to their homes in the Rangitikei region. These people were still living with friends, relatives or staying in community halls or marae. For those without insurance the future looks bleak. In the Rangitikei region farmers had been hard hit by a drought the previous year. The weather and pasture growth had encouraged many to invest in their farms in the expectation of recovering past losses. Suddenly their investment was wiped away; for many there will be no recovery.
Flooding at Woodville destroyed rail lines and flooded highways.
Turakina: long after the flood waters recede, the damage remains.