Our Response.
When the Ngaruroro River breached its banks and flooded the Omahu community, hundreds of homes and residents were put at significant risk. It was the Hapū members that organised themselves to identify which whānau were vulnerable and to begin evacuations of dozens of people.
They physically carried our tamariki and kaumātua from their beds through two-metre-deep flood waters to their personal vehicles, and to sites of safety south of the Omahu bridge or to hilltops along State Highway 50. The rescue was hapū-led, Civil Defence and other services were completely overwhelmed by flood events around the Hawke’s Bay area.
Te Aranga marae provided accommodation for displaced whānau while they undertook flood repairs and preparations at Omahu Marae. Omahu Marae is the marae matua for Ngāti Kahungunu and as such had the capacity to meet the necessary accommodation needs of local whānau and to provide a base of operations for the Ngāti Hinemanu, Ngāi Te Upokoiri me ōna Piringa Hapū Trust Authority who had committed to support their whānau, hapū and community through this emergency.
Over the first two weeks, the Hapu Authority established a Wellbeing and Evacuation Hub to provide emergency support and relief for residents and displaced whanau. Drawing on our own networks we were able to source over 33 tonnes of water; 40 twenty-foot storage containers for food, multiple tankers of fuel, satellite communication devices, over 35 generators and other essential supplies. These were sourced within the first two weeks of the catastrophe.
The following figure provides a timeline of events.
