Venu Menon
Wellington, February 14,2024
A year on after Cyclone Gabrielle struck New Zealand, its effects are still being felt in terms of the ongoing disruption to lives from housing and infrastructure damage as well as economic loss.
The cyclone, which ravaged the northern and eastern regions of the North Island, killed 11 people, displaced more than 10,500, and cost an estimated $14.5 billion, making Cyclone Gabrielle probably the costliest weather-related disaster to have struck the country.
Coinciding with the first anniversary of Cyclone Gabrielle, the government has pledged $63 million for sediment and debris removal in Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti.
“This additional funding means these regions can continue with the job [of] clearing sediment from high priority areas,” said Mark Mitchell, Emergency Management and Recovery Minister.
This brings the Government’s total funding to $232 million for the clean-up of sediment and debris across Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti, the government said in a statement released on February 13.
Ongoing disruption to lives and stress from housing damage
According to a study conducted by researchers at the Public Health Communication Centre and Department of Public Health, University of Otago, Wellington, as of 11 January 2024, 469 houses nationwide were left “uninhabitable due to the extreme weather.” Another 2,412 houses needed repairs.
The process of buyouts has begun, but in Hawke’s Bay it has taken 10 months for the buyouts to start, with valuations still pending in December 2023, the study notes.
The disruption caused by Cyclone Gabrielle has impacted the mental health of victims. A June 2023 survey of Napier residents found that “two-thirds (66%) of respondents reported negative effects of the cyclone and its aftermath on their mental wellbeing.”
The symptoms included anxiety (31%), stress (24%), and depression (16%).
These symptoms have spilled over to the workplace, with those still at risk of flooding having “anxiety every time there was a storm warning.”
This type of impact was similar to the long-term health effects experienced by people after the Christchurch earthquakes.
Ongoing disruption to lives from infrastructure damage.
Though many damaged roads have been repaired, the study predicts disruptions are likely during 2024.
For example, in Hawke’s Bay, “roads and bridges were slowly being pieced back together, with construction on two major bridge rebuilds at Puketapu and Matapiro due to begin this year.”
But Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has said some infrastructure might never be repaired, such as the railway line between Napier and Wairoa.
Persisting economic damage (farmland and tourism sites)
The delay in repairing roads will have adverse economic impacts, the study says, and adds there will also be economic loss from farmland that has not been restored after Cyclone Gabrielle.
For example, “about 650 hectares of land in Hastings and Wairoa was still swamped in silt and debris, and councils asked Prime Minister Luxon for another $60 million to finish the job when he visited in December.”
Some expect farmland recovery will take three to four years.
Tourism sites also remain damaged. This summer, the Department of Conservation reported that “about 100 tourist sites are still closed due to damage caused by Cyclone Gabrielle.”
In Auckland, some reserves, parks and walkways are still closed.
Chronic infrastructure deficits
The study says the damage wrought by Cyclone Gabrielle has revealed the country’s “lack of resilient infrastructure, including to health-critical water supply and sewage disposal systems.”
Even post-cyclone repairs have lacked resiliency. For example, repaired roads have broken up and a temporary $200,000 causeway was washed away after only 25 days after construction.
Implications for public policy and practice
The researchers stressed the need for major disasters of the scale of Cyclone Gabrielle to have a national level of inquiry or review funded by the government. It suggested greater central and local government investment in resilient infrastructure, especially in the context of climate change.
Finally, the study urged central and local governments to support the “managed retreat of those living in housing that is particularly vulnerable to flooding, slips and sea level rise.”
Venu Menon is an Indian Newslink reporter based in Wellington
