Cyclone Gabrielle: The quiet heroes who answered the call for help
Friday, 17 February 2023
Amid the loss and tragedy of Cyclone Gabrielle, many quiet heroes bravely went about saving trapped people, or worked ceaselessly to help flood-hit communities. Here are just some of their stories.
Rooftop helicopter rescue
Just a small part of a house’s roof was above water on Wednesday when a helicopter flew in to pick up a stranded member of the public.
The pilot balanced the chopper on one skid on the small amount of roof available while the rescue was carried out.
“Extreme courage, skill and hope on display here,” Hawke’s Bay Emergency Management posted to Facebook.
**READ MORE:
* Cyclone Gabrielle: 500 seasonal workers displaced but safe, says Government
* Cyclone Gabrielle: 'I’m heartbroken for Hawke’s Bay… but we will be OK'
* Communities across Aotearoa capture Cyclone Gabrielle's damage on social media
**
Solar power and a kayak: Sending messages in Northland
Eugene and Emily Urlich are helping people in Kaipara communicate with loved ones.
The area was badly hit by Cyclone Gabrielle, but the Northland couple are making sure the community can keep in touch with friends and families amid widespread mobile and power outages.
Eugene Urlich paddled to nearby homes, checking people were safe, while wife Emily stayed in house making calls on behalf of neighbours.
Emily said they had saved enough solar power to charge phones. The pair had been able to restore their wi-fi connection and were using a kayak to reach people who were cut off.
“Because we live up high, we could see the surrounding areas. As we saw [water] was rising, we could see [neighbours’] houses flooded. They had no phone, no power.”
Jet boat drivers parked on rooftops to rescue people
When the cyclone hit, Hastings man Sam Hardy heeded the call for help from anyone with a jet boat.
Hardy and his friend Adam Gradwell spent Tuesday in two of the hardest hit communities – Eskdale and Pakowhai. Several of the people they helped have spoken of their gratitude in social media posts.
A member of Jet Boating New Zealand, Hardy didn’t hesitate to jump in the boat to help.
The pair first went to Eskdale, north of Napier, where they helped off roofs until the water started subsiding, and from there they went to Pakowhai, between Napier and Hastings. They were there until the daylight and fuel ran out.
“We were calling in house-to-house, picking up people and dropping them back to the police,” Hardy said.
At first, it had been just himself and Gradwell, but as the day went on more and more help arrived.
“There was half a dozen helicopters, including army ones, privately-owned helicopters doing amazing work lifting people off the roofs of their houses, more jet boats, and surf lifesaving guys were there as well.
“Everybody worked so well together and did an amazing job,” Hardy said. “We were parking our jet boats on roofs, that’s how deep it was.”
He did not know how many people he and Gradwell helped, but said there were families on all the roofs in the area, including elderly people and children.
“We feel we did our part on Tuesday, but a lot of people need to be recognised for what they have done,” he said.
Pregnant woman gets a ride to hospital in Unimog
A heavily pregnant woman stuck in floodwaters was taken to hospital by a Good Samaritan who came to her aid in a Unimog.
Pregnant woman gets a ride to hospital in Unimog
A heavily pregnant woman stuck in floodwaters was taken to hospital by a Good Samaritan who came to her aid in a Unimog.
As Cyclone Gabrielle raged over Northland on Monday night, Kerikeri man Mita Harris (Ngāpuhi) fielded a call to help a woman in labour get to Bay of Islands hospital from south of Kawakawa.
Harris headed out straight away to collect a community midwife in Kawakawa, and then picked up the woman and her whānau.
“It was dark and the flood was quite high, well above the lights. But we made it in and out quick enough,” Harris said.
He has been rescuing people from flood-hit areas in his Unimogs for three or four years, but this was the first time he had taken a pregnant woman to hospital through rising waters.
Fire truck carries people to safety through rising floodwaters
Kaipara District Council member Ash Nayyar and wife Mamti clung to the outside of a fire engine as they were rescued in the dark from their home at Awakino Point, near Dargaville, about 4.30am on Tuesday, amidst driving rain and rapidly-rising Awakino River floodwaters.
Nayyar had been up early ahead of a planned meeting when Mamti looked out the window and told him he wouldn’t be going anywhere.
Angry swirling floodwaters were rapidly rising and coming through their deck about half a metre off the ground. Nayaar rang 111.
A fire engine, loaded with half a dozen people clinging to its outside, drove along State Highway 14 towards a nearby safe point.
“The water levels were rising quickly, my wife was praying as we clung to the side of the fire engine,” Nayyar said.
Seasonal workers stranded for hours on rooftops
A group of about 20 Tongan orchard workers was stranded for six hours on rooftops as floodwater rose around them, eventually reaching the building’s gutters.
Their plight was publicised in a livestream on Facebook that showed the workers surrounded by muddy waters in which tables, cars and household items were floating.
Auckland Tongan community leader Pakilau Manase Lua said the rescue started about 3.30pm, with the workers being flown in groups of two or three to an evacuation centre.
He said the men were in “good spirits” after the rescue.
Don’t forget our animal heroes
Three cats, six goldfish and a dog named Olly – these are the 10 animals already being cared for by a makeshift ‘Noah’s Ark’ in Hastings.
From stock and cattle to goldfish and domestic pets, HUHA (Helping You Help Animals) is expecting more animals in need at their shelter in the lounge area of the Hawke’s Bay Racing Centre.
And then there these cows, who appeared to respond to a farmer’s call to swim for their lives.