Napier flood

[piroska]

Power out since tuesday am now. Finally able to get petrol 3 hr qs b4. No hot water. Mitre10 cleaned out early. No bbqs, cookers, gas. We got butane burner now. 1 can but some coming late tomorrow. Freezer defrosted. Just stocked up too dammit. Never mind. Somonne cooked up chicken for us and we had corn and salad from garden. Had cold shower today. Other places far worse. Sharing with neighbours. Able to get bucket hot water for mum tonight so she can sponge wash

[CliveM]

Hang in there Helen it will come right. Good to know that you are still in the land of the living.

[pheonix]

Great to hear you are surviving there Piroska. Would you know if Kenj is OK?

[Kenj]

Yep, I'm good, Helen and I contacted each other during the bad times. Couldn't help each other unless we had use of a pretty high vehicle.

Good people in Hawkes Bay, we look after our friends and Neighbour's. Thanks for asking pheonix

Ken

[Oh_hunnihunni]

I have a favourite cousin in Clive, power still out but family got to them to look after...

I think we have lots of bad news to come, sadly. It has been a hell of a summer.

[piroska]

Yep, I'm good, Helen and I contacted each other during the bad times. Couldn't help each other unless we had use of a pretty high vehicle.

Good people in Hawkes Bay, we look after our friends and Neighbour's. Thanks for asking pheonix 

Ken

I txted you kenj.
I have a reasonable vehicle although petrol was dire for a time.
Neighbours here great. 4 of us households anyway.

So much for riff raff Maraenui huh,m they're all lovely and extremely helpful.

That church on the other hand. One lot told the others they were looking after mum and brother and apart from one ,lunch in which a fight ensued, we didn't see them again.
She did come round and leave a note about petfood which I had said we didn't need.
Hopeless.

The fight was they insisted, forcefully, I sit on a particular chair I declined and was pulled, so I left. As I got in the car I was pulled again.
FFS!!!
I was going to sit on steps, better for my hip and back.
Anyway whatever...I don't like that lot and never will.
Son helped , sent money via internet banking and arranged for emergency supplies to be delivered to me via Jeff the amazing man.
and most of all was friend in the middle of nowhere - Ngapara who kept txting me updates and info when I wasn't able to get it any other way.

Shout out to Jeff of Auto Super Shoppe, Austin Rd, Onekawa. That guy needs a medal.
I shall be informing the news about his heroics. And all at his own expense too.
They worked like slaves to help other people!!

[harm_less]

The effects of this cyclone have definitely focussed the minds of those who have lost the previously underappreciated 'necessities' of life such as electricity, running water and communication.

We are in the process of upgrading our PV in order to reduce outgoings on our rural property. 2 hours of power outage on Tuesday for us and more especially the harrowing accounts of those facing days of power outages on the East Coast has caused us to review the extent of our plans. Being rural we lose water supply when the power goes down as no pump. Also we have 2x 700L chest freezers loaded with meat and home produce that would amount to a substantial value if lost. The idea of having battery storage for our PV has gained a lot of appeal in terms of substantially increasing our resilience and saving on electricity in everyday living.

Quite an investment but as news stories promoting the benefits of 'micro grids' in terms of community resilience air it seems I'm not alone in looking to
'unlock' ourselves from the restrictions (and expense) of life totally reliant on the national grid as conversations I'm seeing on other forums would also indicate.

In the vein our power provider Ecotricity has taken the opportunity to promote EVs with 'vehicle to load' capability to some of their effected customers. While being able to run an appliance or two would be great in such situations but the idea of completely sidestepping the grid in supplying your entire household would be so much better.

[allblack]

I've lost track of the times I've said this week "one good earthquake and that is us".

'specially being at the bottom of a very big hill.

[R2x1]

I've lost track of the times I've said this week "one good earthquake and that is us".

'specially being at the bottom of a very big hill.

. . . Even more so for those former summit dwellers currently "at the bottom of a very big hill." Puts a whole new slant on "living at the bottom of our garden."

We were extremely fortunate, our biggest problem was having to get up every 20 or 30 minutes to use the shopvac to dry the laundyt floor from the odd few litres of rain that drove around our back door. Had stand-by power, but didn't need it
Murphy found other targets.

[Kenj]

Sad fact of life these days...... I went to Nole Lemmings to purchase a new boy's toy for my son and because it was a biggish box (marked X ) The salesman carried it for me to The Warehouse (next door) where I was to wait for my wife who was purchasing something in there. I sat on a bench in the foyer in the company of 3 staff members were doing door duty. There were some gang members trying to start a fight after being shown the door there and the screaming and bad language was pretty darn terrible, and the staff were calling the Police. A robust young staff member was doing security at the door, sadly there was the need for him to be wearing a stab proof vest. 

When wife came out, I put the Box marked X into her trolley with her purchases, and the young bloke said, "I will come with you, the odds are that you could be robbed of that before you get to your car" Thankfully we accepted his kind help, and he came with us and put it in the boot and waited until we drove off. Great service!!

What is our society coming to?

Ken

[CliveM]

But Ken, both our PM and Chief of Police tell us that bad behavior is not a problem and refuse to provide extra security in your district.

[Kenj]

Dopey bastards that they are!

[piroska]

But Ken, both our PM and Chief of Police tell us that bad behavior is not a problem and refuse to provide extra security in your district.

Stress probably. There isn't  gas, butane, petrol cans etc to be had anywhere in Hawkes Bay. Even online.
Not much meat in supermarkets either.

Strangely here In Maraenui the gang zone it's quiet. Neighbours offering help during, hot water from her with the solar panels on roof, the rest sharing things, rides, food etc.

I had son txt early on asking if I was ok, drive by shootings and the like....er, not that we saw/heard.

The religious came round (after it was all over) to say Gun City was raided by gangs and they're going round doing home invasions.
Er...really? Not in news, not on cop website and not according to her next door who listens to the police radio either.

So there is a lot of rumour and gossip.
Apparently some of the "scoping out to steal" was disaster tourism, people driving round doing videos and photos and uploading them. I saw a few of those videos etc.

Supermarkets all quiet except some Old white lady saying it was all Jacindas fault for giving money to maori.
I didn't ask what was..the flood, power, shortages? Walked off.

Her next door then asked me to come for a meal etc with them, although I didn't need it.
Docs/medical tricky too, mum was taken to after hrs at 5. At midnight taken to hospital, they rang and asked me to drive her cause ambulances couldn't. She didn't need to go actually.
Couldn't get blood tests done, none open here. Got referred to Hastings who were outraged to be asked when we rang and tried to send us back to our GP who isn't even here. (He works in Taupo hospital sometimes)
Tried to explain none here doing them, our gp doesn't anyway even if he was here and sends to the labs here and finally after consulting somewhere came back and said she could join the queue over there.
We didn't, more hours sitting in heat wouldn't have helped her any.

[Olive]

Thank you for giving us first-hand information from the actual site. The rumours and anti-government hysteria are mounting and it's good to have your perspective.

[Kenj]

I think that everyone is busting their guts to help, it's just the enormity of the problem.

[piroska]

The religious came round (after it was all over) to say Gun City was raided by gangs and they're going round doing home invasions.
Er...really? Not in news, not on cop website and not according to her next door who listens to the police radio either.

So there is a lot of rumour and gossip.

Seems Gun City Christchurch was broken into. Owned by same guy as the (new) Napier one. 4 people stole a paintball gun and air rifle.Napier store just open, mainly fishing, camping stuff. And probably somewhat empty already...rush on cookers and such I imagine.

So that's how rumour starts.

It's raining again, helicopters still around, Unison still out in force, hope it doesn't get worse, so far normal drizzle, but there i a warning in place. I bet Wairoa and Esk Valley are terrified.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

I think I place a lot more weight on the stories I read from the people who are experiencing these events, than I do on media and press statements. The families who have had their properties looted may well be in lesser positions of power but their experiences are none the less valid for that, and their salaries do not depend on putting on a good show for their bosses, whoever that might be.

Maybe I value anecdotal evidence because I have a social science background, or maybe its just because I have been in crisis situations and I know that stomach churning feeling of shock and helplessness, and I empathise.

Unlike those who have never been there, and have no conception of just how it feels to know your life has just been smashed to pieces.

[zqwerty]

The Christchurch earthquakes caused a lot of problems for the people who lived through them.

Our house and granny flat had no straight walls anymore, large gaps between the ceilings and the walls with dust drifting down from the roof space, the floors were like mini roller coasters and no longer level, doors jammed and would not close or open easily in the frames, hot water tank leaking, refrigerator failed from the shaking, brick chimney fell onto roof and rolled down roof and onto ground causing extensive damage, roof tiles broken by joists and rafters in the framing snapping and punching through the roof, sewage pipes broken and leaking, water main damaged and leaking, double brick walls all round the house damaged and split apart, some with big gaps, some you could sway the walls if you pushed them.

Mum went to live in an old peoples home and I stayed on in the damaged house with no hot water for more than four years before we got a settlement from the Insurance company.

The saga was very much more complicated but I have shortened and simplified the story for brevity.

The people who have been affected by the cyclone are in for a long hard ride, the insurance companies will make it all the worse.

For us they didn't follow the spirit or letter of the policy and disputed the meaning of the phrase "full replacement". Mum and Dad had paid the policy on time for more than forty years before the earthquakes.

[piroska]

Hey Kenj.  Herald says:

Evacuated under emergency to civil defence shelters and without power or communications in their homes: that was the fate of around 1000 Hawke’s Bay retirement village residents aged 75-plus when Cyclone Gabrielle hit.

Although four Summerset Hawke’s Bay villages lost power and communications, stand-by mobile diesel-powered generators and Starlinke Satellite services enabled services to be provided to hospitals and central buildings.

But Civil Defence evacuated more than 70 elderly residents from Napier’s Summerset Palms at Te Awa, Scoullar said.
It was the hardest hit out of the four.

Those in independent villas couldn’t use stoves or ovens and lost their deep-freeze contents, although their homes were undamaged.
Generators maintained the power to hospitals, central meeting and dining areas and that was where residents from the three villages gathered.
“We had to use helicopters,” Scoullar said, telling how flights brought in essential supplies to the three villages where residents sheltered in place.

Food, clinical supplies and bed linen were choppered in. Laundries at Summerset hospitals couldn’t continue on the standby generators.

Starlink Satellite connected at the Hawke’s Bay villages was another godsend and Scoullar said residents were able to use WhatsApp and Facebook messenger to contact friends and relatives.

Two chefs were flown to Hawke’s Bay from Auckland to help cook for people in independent living villas suffering power cuts to fridges, freezers, stoves and cooktops. Meals were provided free at the two villages on the Napier side: Summerset in the Bay and Summerset Palms.

Meals were free because of the emergency situation but usually they are not free for independent villa residents.



You? Or are you in a different on?

[Kenj]

We are in a new Bupa village. Certainly can't complain about how we were looked after. Fair amount of hot food supplied daily but no chefs flown in for individual cooking for us though

Power to the Community Centre by Wed pm and had a large generator which would have powered the whole village just before our power came back. It will be here for some time as there are still possibilities of more power outs in weeks to come.