Esk Valley, Napier

2023 - 2 - 16

Post cover — Image courtesy of "Newsroom"

Omahu marae and settlement near Hastings flooded, Napier ... (Newsroom)

Hawkes Bay is suffering widespread flooding and destruction, with Napier completely cut off and without any way for residents to reach Hastings Hospital for ...

"Presumably they got picked up by the rescue people because other people got picked up. I rang to my cousins about 8am because I've got a house there and they're living in it. I don't know how they would have got out because they couldn't go the Taradale way because that's all washed out." "I'm just freaking out because I've got two cousins there who I spoke to this morning. I've just got the photo through family, through family, through family. It's flowed over the stopbank but it's also come from further upstream. But the marae is under water and the whole papakainga. With cars being turned away by police from entering the Napier-Hastings expressway there is no access to Hastings from Napier at all. After walking 15 minutes to the only open store they discovered it had already shut for the day. We have no communication - even if you’re just repeating the same messages, it’s something." Newsroom is also receiving reports of horses being swept away. Newsroom knows of at least one resident who has lost their home to flooding.

Cyclone Gabrielle: Wild caravan escape from Napier's Esk Valley ... (New Zealand Herald)

A Napier man has recalled a wild escape with his caravan as rising floodwaters threatened to sweep him and his family away. Shayne Daysh was the only resident ...

Two were linked to the Esk Valley flood which included a child discovered on Wednesday afternoon in Eskdale, and a person whose body washed up at nearby Bay View on Tuesday night. It was so dark. I thought it was going to take me.” People were screaming and houses smashing and hundreds of sheep just crying out.” “I just booted it all the way up the hill. “It chased us all the way up the hill.

Couple's Esk Valley home of 47 years 'absolutely munted' (Stuff.co.nz)

Esk Valley resident Warwick Marshall talks about the destruction Cyclone Gabrielle caused. Warwick Marshall is considering himself lucky to be alive after ...

The only thing they do know, is that it won’t be quick. They’re staying nearby with friends, and are relying on relatives to deliver supplies. He has heard next to nothing since evacuating his house. We had water so high inside the house [and] outside the windows it was another three feet above that.” The water level peaked around 3m deep. Marshall has lived in the valley north of Napier for 71 years.

Cyclone Gabrielle lashes New Zealand (Fruitnet)

Government implements state of emergency as fruit industry prepares to assess the damage from “devastating” storm.

“Our thoughts are with all the people and growers across New Zealand who have been affected by the latest atrocious weather event, Cyclone Gabrielle. “I expect we will provide more support once a full and thorough assessment of the damage caused by Cyclone Gabrielle across the North Island is complete. This is a dynamic situation and we are responding accordingly to help the rural sector to respond with this initial funding,” said agriculture minister Damien O’Connor.

'Prepare for likelihood of more fatalities' (Otago Daily Times)

Hawke's Bay Today photographer Warren Buckland has been on the ground taking photos of the devastation in Esk Valley. At least five die in cyclone with ...

Thousands of people are out of their homes, more than 1400 people remain ”uncontactable” on a missing-person database, and new images reveal wrecked roads and bridges, properties, and infrastructure. Earlier, Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise told Newstalk ZB this morning that the region was slowly beginning to open up, with more supplies and help on the way. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins - speaking from Gisborne - acknowledged today it was a “lonely and isolating” time for those cut off by the cyclone’s aftermath. It was “almost certainly” time to rethink parts of the road network, he said. There are thunderstorm warnings for part of Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne and heavy rain forecast for Auckland, where officials say 16,000 homes remain without power. We decided that Muriwai and its beautiful community was the perfect place for this. Power lines are also buckling and significantly damaged while large chunks of the vital Napier-Taupo Rd have simply disappeared. Bay of Plenty - including Taupo and Rotorua - are also under the severe thunderstorm watch. Esk Valley photographs, by Hawke’s Bay Today photographer Warren Buckland, reveal a number of homes have been completely destroyed along Shaw Rd, off State Highway 5, near the Esk River north of Napier. In good news, the link between Napier and Hastings is now again open - but only to emergency services and critical workers. In nearby Napier, desperate residents are queuing for petrol, cash and gas as the city faces up to two weeks without power. They said many of this number were “likely duplicates”.

New Zealand – 4 Killed in Cyclone Gabrielle Floods and Landslides ... (FloodList)

In a statement of 15 February, New Zealand Police said one person died in a landslide in Putorino and another in flood waters in Napier, both in Hawke's Bay ...

We are also assisting in gaining situational awareness of the challenges and environmental conditions to help inform planning and tasking of capabilities,” NZDF said. Civil Defence added that there were 25 active requests for assistance around Hawke’s Bay including people trapped in houses and on roofs. In a statement of 15 February, New Zealand Police said one person died in a landslide in Putorino and another in flood waters in Napier, both in Hawke’s Bay Region. In Auckland Region, the body of a volunteer firefighter was recovered from a landslide in Muriwai on 15 February. The connecting local roads, Tiniroto, Wharekopae and Waimata Valley are also closed at various locations making access to pockets of our community impossible. Police also reported the body of a young person was located in Eskdale, a rural settlement in the Hastings District of Hawke’s Bay Region.