The Hawke’s Bay Regional Council has said it is “urgently” reviewing the cause of widespread flooding in Wairoa last week that lead to the displacement of hundreds of people and caused $40 million in damages.
Operating procedures for river mouth openings, and timelines associated with the event will be under scrutiny.
Regional council chief executive Nic Peet said the reviews are “absolute focus” and that the councilwas ” also in the process of commissioning an external review of this work”.
“We will make these review outcomes public – with the review of operating procedures expected this week. The technical review of flooding causes will be done as fast as possible, but is complex.”
Earlier today, Wairoa mayor Craig Little told Breakfast the situation on the ground in Wairoa was “soul destroying”.
“People just don’t know how they’re going to get ahead of this one. They’re uninsured, it’s no fault of theirs and they’ve flooded where we’ve never flooded. It’s just horrible.”
The regional council said it is working with the local district council and Tātau Tātau o te Wairoa to support the community.
“Our Wairoa staff are supporting the Wairoa civil defence team, helping with rubbish collection, assisting with debris removal and rubbish collection. We are working with Wairoa District Council and supporting their business-as-usual functions,” Little said.
The regional council chairperson Hinewai Ormsby said the council’s hearts “go out to the Wairoa community at this incredibly challenging time” and that it was working alongside Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery Mark Mitchell.
“We will be sharing any learnings from this event with our partners and the community and are advocating for long-term flood mitigations that ensure better outcomes for Wairoa.”
Mitchell last week announced the Government would contribute $300,000 to the Mayoral Relief Funds to help communities in Hastings, Wairoa and Tairāwhiti.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told Breakfast the Government was open to more funding for Wairoa.
“We’re obviously still working through with Wairoa, there’s been some serious money that’s been given to deal with flood bank protection in particular… there’s money that will be needed for clean-up.”
He said the Government was working through assessing exactly what was needed for the region.
The region has been hit hard in recent times, with nearly 200 homes damaged by flooding after heavy rains and three fishermen dying at sea during storms in Gisborne, as well as the damage to Wairoa.