There has been no change since my last contact with Sparks via Chorus, and today there has been a wide outage in the Northland and Auckland due to Cyclone Gabrielle yesterday and today.
Yesterday (February 12th 2023), across New Zealand, we received a weather alert warning about Cyclone Gabrielle coming toward New Zealand starting last night to Wednesday, February 15th. We live in Eureka, Waikato, and we do not get or received severe wild weather here over the years, only high winds.
The main problem is the communication line to everyone I work with, support and assist around Waikato, Coromandel-Thames, and other parts of the North Island. The people I support/work with them are disabled, D/deaf and D/deaf with disabilities and Government agencies staff. It is difficult to check, and video chat with them over mobile data of 20Gb. Faxes to Deaf seniors are another problem because I use copper broadband ADSL line from home. The fibre line is no help and no match technology for any fax communication to the senior people who hate or refuse to accept new technology such as mobile and internet.
Monday, February 13th – We still have no landline and internet connection until possibly Thursday, February 16th, instead of today. Another disappointing outcome. My partner was annoyed because he wanted to google something from his iPad, which was not working today. Then my partner was told by his boss to take another day off tomorrow due to heavy flooding in the construction area. I went over to check with one of the D/deaf persons for her well-being in Hamilton City, and I borrowed her WIFI while I was at her rental home because of the zoom meeting with the Government agencies for nearly two hours.
February 14th 2023, our copper line/broadband line is still down, but our mobiles do not work very well because the telecommunication signal lagged and is very slow to download. Another disappointing outcome. We survived the storm – heavy high winds lashed out trees, branches, roofs, and power line overnight. We did have a small power cut before 4 am until I woke up when my partner said, ‘Looked out in the field’. Oh! The fig tree blew down, and the young avocado tree bent slightly but saved. The other pressing matter was to inspect our property to see if there was any damage. Just a few to name, a black wattle hardwood tree, a dahlia tree, a fig tree and a young pittosporum tree.
Cyclone Gabrielle weather in New Zealand – 2023 February
It had been a strange summer season for us here because it is not an entire summer season for a long time. Last month we had several wild wet kinds of weather on the North Island, and it was the first cyclone – Hale. The destructive effect of the environment area is Coromandel-Thames than Greater Auckland. The difference between these regional areas is Coastal-rural and city. Coromandel-Thames regional is the most significant coastal rural with narrow roads and no other routes through the heavy bush area. Greater Auckland is the largest population with poor infrastructure – roads, building on the hilltops, buildings close to each other’s, and old underground water/sewage pipes. Along the coastal beaches, for example, Browns Bay, Mercury Bay or Tamaki Drive, there are multiple erosions by salt wind and ‘king waves or tidal waves wash out many sand banks.
In Coromandel-Thames regional, the main road, State highway 25a, closed due to continuous landslips of more than 100 metres and unable to repair or replace the road. The Geonet teams are working on planning and checking the land depth, soil types and many other issues with this road. Who knows how much it will cost them to replace this highway road? How long will this road be repaired? Most people will say about $2 billion or more.
Kaikoura in the South Island was severely affected by the earthquake/landslides and was one only central state Highway Road from Picton to Christchurch. The cost of repairing and scrapping part of the hill slope was $1.25 billion along the 60km between Clarence and Oaro in 2016. The repair job took two years instead of ten years.
Coromandel-Thames State Highway 25a (North Island) is different to Kaikōura State Highway 1 (South Island) because Kaikōura is a coastal road which exposure to the coast and beach, not in the bush region like in the Coromandel-Thames (Hauraki regional).
Dubious is the people of Coromandel-Thames in their mind over State Highway 25a and how can they travel more quickly than going a long way round trip! I have been there several times, especially Flaxmill Bay and the road from Kopu to Flaxmill Bay or Whitianga. This road is a lovely winding route, and to admire the stunning ocean view over the mountain climbs and through many low bank farmlands on both sides of the road. I am not a fan of the longest winding road all the way because anyone must drive carefully on the curve bend, a narrow road with one hillside and the other side is a long drop down. But the best is the viewing toward Motuhoa/Shoe Island, WMW Slipper Island (Whakahau), and the Pacific Ocean. This region is a Coromandel Forest Park.
February 14th, 2023, the worst fear came true, and the whole region of Coromandel-Thames, including the route to Whangamata, were wholly cut off with roads collapsed, heavy flooding over farmlands, landslips, coastal slips, power line down and, of course, communication line down. Isolated, they started cleaning up, repairing jobs, and wishing outsiders like Aucklanders and Waikato people to revisit Coromandel-Thames for their financial needs.
February 15th, 2023, the sun came out in the early hours of this morning, bought us delight in Eureka. I received a couple of text messages from the people, and their statements were, “did Coromandel-Thames suffer six times through bad storms?” My reply was, ‘Yes, and more regularly than in Greater Auckland and other parts of New Zealand.’ I watched the Breakfast News this morning, and the Prime Minister – Rt Hon. Chris Hipkins and his team are travelling to Coromandel-Thames to inspect and review the disaster region today.
The downside is the poignant news from the Muriwai region near Greater Auckland about the missing firefighter that happened overnight on February 13th at midnight. Here is the updated news today, they found the body.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/484262/muriwai-slip-body-found-in-search-for-trapped-firefighter
Where is the Muriwai region? A map of the Muriwai is listed here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muriwai#/map/0
Again Muriwai Beach and region is a coastal community, different from the Coromandel-Thames region.
Here is the link from across the North Island and you can view this. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/weather-news/300806341/in-pictures-cyclone-gabrielle-cuts-path-of-destruction
Life in Eureka 