Timing only thing to prevent flood deaths in Wairoa - mayor

by Ashleigh McCaull of RNZ 

Only the timing of Wairoa’s devastating flood stopped people from dying, the town’s mayor says. 

As the clean-up continues, some residents face an uncertain future — but locals are determined to stay. 

Wairoa resident Marie Tuahine was knee-deep in flood water the day the river poured through her Apatu St home. 

Her place was one of 120 that was yellow-stickered, meaning it needed considerable work before she could live there again. 

It had since been stripped to timber frames and was empty but for the bath and shower. 

But Tuahine said she was not going anywhere. 

“I’ve lived in this house for, would be 50 years now. My husband and I had this home built for us so there’s no way I’m going to leave my whare, my land, my whenua,” she said. 

“The floods to me were man-made, that could have been avoided. That’s what I firmly believe.” 

Her neighbour Shinelle Thomson had just finished renovating her home when the flooding hit. 

She was now staying at a friend’s place while her whare was being repaired, which was dragging on because there was asbestos in the flooring. 

“Moving away isn’t an option - my intention is to live here, to have my mokopuna here and to enjoy it because we’re not in an area that normally floods. It’s what I call the avoidable flood,” Thomson said. 

Many in the town blamed Hawke’s Bay Regional Council for what they said was its failure to get the river mouth dug out in time. 

Mayor Craig Little was continuing to demand an apology from the council. 

“You had all the townsfolk that were put under threat of losing their lives and if it happened at 1 o’clock in the morning, I can guarantee you there would have been some body bags because it had been horrible. 

“People were walking out up to their chest anyway in water, so the health and safety legislation needs to be looked at and how that was failed a little bit.” 

The regional council would not comment while it was subject to legal proceedings. 

It has previously admitted there would have been less flooding if the river bar was opened sooner. 

Hamish Pryde, who was one of those tasked with clearing the bar, said even if the work started earlier, he was not sure how much damage would have been prevented. 

“In the 30 years I’ve been involved I think we’ve been really lucky in some of the results we’ve got. Mother Nature is a pretty powerful beast and I think it’s sort of been a bit of a disaster waiting to happen. 

“I think that all the ducks just lined up against us and it’s one we couldn’t control.” 

He said past options should be reconsidered. 

“Maybe there needs to be hard engineering done on the river mouth, to actually put engineered control like putting rock walls or something hugely expensive in - at the time, it was sort of considered that maybe the risk and reward, it wasn’t justified.” 

The regional council’s review into the flooding is expected soon and a government review is due in August. 

Meanwhile, a separate review into how Hawke’s Bay flood protection held up during Cyclone Gabrielle is due to be released this week.