Puketapu

In Hawke's Bay, many communities face another night without power, with 37000 homes out across the region, more than three quarters of them in Napier. Ess.

Dramatic footage showed the one lane Brookfields Bridge over the Tutaekuri River, which connected parts of Hastings and Napier, succumbing to a large build up ...

A large build up of slash was observed before aerial photos showed the bridge had collapsed. The previous high was 3.5m. [raging floodwaters](https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/hawkes-bay/131232749/dramatic-video-of-hawkes-bay-familys-flight-from-rising-floodwaters) hurled debris down rivers leaving many communities isolated and cut off. Rissington Bridge (Mangaone River, Rissington ) Hikuwai Bridge (Hikuwai River, Tolaga Bay) [Esk River stormed the valley](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/weather-news/131220076/houses-submerged-residents-trapped-on-roofs-in-hawkes-bay). Esk River Bridge (Esk River, Eskdale) [among the many evacuated](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/weather-news/131220076/absolutely-traumatised-woman-forced-to-swim-out-bedroom-window-in-floodwater). Vicarage Rd Bridge (Tutaekuri River, Puketapu) Dartmoor Bridge (Tutaekuri River, Puketapu) Redclyffe Bridge (Tutaekuri River, Waiohiki) Brookfields Bridge (Tutaekuri River, Pakowhai)

Cyclone Gabrielle's death toll has risen to six after a second Muriwai volunteer firefighter died - the Prime Minister is warning that number will rise as ...

Likewise, Waikato, Thames, Bay of Plenty, Manawatu and Whangarei are all also “fortunate to be scaling down their emergency response and entering the recovery phase”, Hipkins said. There is absolutely no doubt that communities affected by recent weather events are under enormous pressure,” he said. This is despite emergency teams bravely making more than 450 rescues during the height of the storm, including plucking some people by helicopter from roofs as floodwaters raged below. “We do need to prepare for the likelihood there will be more fatalities,” Prime Minister Chris Hipkins warned in a press conference yesterday. Officers were also unable to confirm whether there had been any new fatalities linked to the area. “We are still coming to terms with the news that Craig, our second firefighter caught in the Muriwai landslide, has died in hospital. “A number of the people I spoke to are in somewhat of a state of shock. Meanwhile, further south on Auckland’s west coast, people are still being evacuated from their homes in Piha as land remains dangerous and unstable days after Cyclone Gabrielle, RNZ reports. Surf club custodian Paul Newnham says a lot of land is still moving. Thousands of homes – most in the Napier area – remain without power, while some residents in cut-off communities in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay have had to make purchases in cash only and have been faced with dwindling food and water supplies and long petrol queues. As of yesterday, 9000 people were estimated as being displaced in Hawke’s Bay while an estimated 3718 were displaced and evacuated in Northland and Auckland, Hipkins said. Prime Minister Hipkins said family and friends have lodged about 3500 reports of missing people - most in the Hawke’s Bay region - that have been “unreachable” since Monday’s deluge began.

However late Wednesday, Ed Train in Hawke's Bay was relieved to get a call from his family who are inaccessible on their Puketapu farm. "My mum, my two younger ...

When Rachel Greene last spoke to her mother Marie on Monday they talked about the coming cyclone and agreed staying inside was best. On Friday, she received ...

She had the sort of personality that everyone gravitated towards. “She’s one of the most generous people you’d ever meet. [Cyclone Gabrielle](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/weather-news/300808016/we-want-to-know-our-people-are-safe-anxious-families-in-hardhit-wairoa-wait-for-news). “I love you too,” was the reply. * [Cyclone Gabrielle](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/weather-news/300809447/cyclone-gabrielle-live-updates-ongoing-disaster-after-extraordinary-flood), which was forecast to bring heavy rain and strong winds to Hawke’s Bay.

The number of fatalities from Cyclone Gabrielle looks set to rise with news this afternoon that police are investigating a death near Napier.

“We do need to prepare for the likelihood there will be more fatalities,” Prime Minister Chris Hipkins warned in a press conference yesterday. The prime minister said there was still a huge way to go in response, with some small communities still cut off and isolated. Officers were also unable to confirm whether there had been any new fatalities linked to the area. "I saw first-hand today though just how much Cyclone Gabrielle is going to affect the whole country. Hipkins’ visit to Hawke’s Bay and the devastated Esk Valley community today coincided with news this morning a 2-year-old girl had been swept away there in rising floodwaters. Further south on Auckland’s west coast, people were still being evacuated from their homes in Piha as land remains dangerous and unstable days after Cyclone Gabrielle, RNZ reports. Surf club custodian Paul Newnham says a lot of land is still moving. There is no power in Napier and evacuation centres are full, the PM says. The Esk Valley was “full of mud”. Hipkins confirmed eight people had died and said emergency services held grave concerns for more deaths. Water and mud was destroying homes and crops. In Hawke’s Bay a ship with 26 tonnes of supplies on board had arrived and the army had established a headquarters in Napier.

It comes as police confirm another death of a person in Puketapu, near Napier, is being investigated.