Two years on from Cyclone Gabrielle

Photo: Gisborne Herald

Resilience has become a buzzword in Gisborne and on the East Coast these days, especially after each extreme weather event and with torrential rain and at its worst, tropical cyclones experienced by our communities. We are learning new words every year to describe our changing and new reality in our region – atmospheric river, ex-tropical cyclone…what isn’t new, is the connection between our social ties and resilience as a region in the face of disaster. 

Two years ago in February 2023, the East Cape and Tairāwhiti were devastated by Cyclone Gabrielle. Healthy Families East Cape reflects on a time of grief and shock – but most of all, the deep sense of community and the community-led change that thrived in one of the worst weather events of our generation. 

Alongside our region, a number of staff within Healthy Families East Cape awoke on the morning following the worst of Cyclone Gabrielle to no electricity including ATMs, no connection to the outside world including phone and wi-fi, and extreme flooding throughout our small city, Gisborne.  

To make matters worse, our region was cut off from healthy and safe water support which meant our homes and community needed to preserve our water. What we didn’t know was that it would be almost a week before we would be able to make communication with the outside world. Still, we prevail as a community. 

Gisborne mayor Rehette Stoltz woke up at 4am on Tuesday 14 February to no power and no reception. But it wasn't until she arrived at the Civil Defence headquarters that she realised the devastation Cyclone Gabrielle had wrought. 

"We lost everything that could break," she said. "The water, the roads, the sewage systems, electricity." 

Up the coast, the smaller communities were used to being self-sufficient, but their road - State Highway 35 - had been left with countless potholes and multiple slips which worsened every time it rained. 

Two years on, the impacts of the storm – one of the deadliest and most destructive to ever hit New Zealand – are still fresh in peoples’ minds. For the Healthy Families East Cape team, one of the biggest observations is always around how resilient our region is, with the storm testing the resilience of our systems and people but most of all, showing how strong our communities are together in times of strife.  

What our communities showed us is that resilience is built through connection and community wrap-around support. It demonstrated that community-led, culturally grounded initiatives offer a more effective pathway towards strengthening the building blocks of our cities and regions. And it showed us all the sheer strength of grassroots movements that shine through, especially in times of devastation. 

“Community-led change thrives when passionate individuals step up to make a difference. And Tairāwhiti is full of those people.” Says Healthy Families East Cape Manager, Tomairangi Higgins. 

Many individuals throughout the isolated coast and Tairāwhiti were instrumental in empowering the hapori whānui to maximise the resources that we had, creating community-led initiatives throughout our region that still exist today, and demonstrating how collective action can create lasting impact. 

Healthy Families East Cape recognises that community-led, culturally grounded approaches are at the heart of resilience and recovery. It’s through connection, collective action and local leadership that real change happens. 

More than ever, people are interested in resilience. Infrastructure, ecosystems, social systems, and individuals all need to be resilient. We encourage our people and also local leadership to recognise that we do not need to wait for extreme weather events, such as Cyclone Gabrielle, to strengthen the fabric of our communities so that we may remain resilient and socially connected. Nor do we need to wait for times of trouble to activate collective action in our communities. The time is now, to place importance on prevention and elevate community-led solutions, paving the way for investing in what truly works for communities. 

We take this time to mihi to all of those within our communities in Tairāwhiti who stood up and supported our people in time of need including emergency services, volunteers and local organisations. 

Our hearts also go out to the families of those whose lives were lost, whose homes, and livelihoods were affected and continue to be affected by the aftermath.  

~ Mā te kotahitanga e whai kaha ai tātau ~ 

In unity, we have strength