'Devoted and protective' mother confirmed dead in Cyclone Gabrielle

Monday, 20 February 2023

Susane Caccioppoli’s family say they take comfort knowing their mum is now with their dad, who died a few years ago.

The daughter of a woman who was last seen disappearing under a wall of water has confirmed her body has been found.

Susane Caccioppoli, 55, was last seen by her boyfriend on Tuesday morning after floodwaters ripped through the Esk Valley home they were house sitting.

It’s believed her body was found washed up on a beach.

The death toll from Cyclone Gabrielle stands at 11, with that number almost certain to rise.

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Caccioppoli’s daughter Bianka-lee Bryan said she was a cheerful, welcoming, “kind constant” in her children’s lives, and would be remembered as a devoted and protective mother, oma and daughter and sister.

The Beekmans' Eskdale property where Caccioppoli was housesitting, after the Cyclone Gabrielle flood.

“She was always the happiest when with her family.”

Bryan said she was disappointed that the family found out details of her final hours via media after the owner of the house, Maik Beekmans, talked to Radio NZ last Thursday.

She said the publication of details of Caccioppoli’s last moments “stole any remaining light away from a family holding on to hope”, “and praying for a safe outcome, without the decency to reach out to us first.”

A rāhui has been placed on Hawke’s Bay due to concerns kōiwi (human remains) may have been washed to the sea, as a result of Cyclone Gabrielle.

However, the family were grateful “to those” that had endeavoured to fast track the “stressful” search.

“We also extend our gratitude to those working day and night throughout this disaster, and thank you for bringing our Mum home to us.”

Bryan also shared Caccioppoli’s breast cancer fight, resulting in 11 “arduous” surgeries in the past 15 years and said the last few years had been particularly hard for her mother, following the death of her husband, and their father.

“She remained the superglue that held our family together with her inexhaustible love, no matter the troubles in her life.”

“While we wish more than anything to see her walk through our door with one heck of a survival story to tell (a few times), we find comfort in knowing she is now held closely in Dad's arms.”

Bryan said arrangements to celebrate her life were “uncertain” at the moment due to the chaotic situation.

USAR search properties in the Esk Valley after Cyclone Gabrielle. Video first published February 19 2023.

The owners of the house where Caccioppoli and her boyfriend, Gareth, was staying, Maik Beekmans and his daughter Frederieke, were flying back from overseas when the worst of Cyclone Gabrielle devastated their home and orchard.

At about 2.30am on Tuesday, floodwaters ripped through the house at an 'absolutely mad speed', even though the building had been designed to survive floods - it was built on 1.2 metre piles.

'Gareth decided to secure some of our more valuable stuff, and he didn't think it could get much worse,' Beekmans told Checkpoint.

'But the water kept rising. At that stage, he simply could not flee the property in a safe way because the water was well beyond any vehicle being able to drive out of there. No boat. Nothing to get out of there.

'So Gareth and his girlfriend sought refuge on our benchtop in the kitchen, and the water kept rising, he smashed his way through the GIB board in the ceiling.

'They clambered up into the ceiling space. And when they were up there, a 40-foot container took the front half of our house off.

'It smashed through the walls of the living room.

'That's when the house actually opened up,' Maik said. Gareth, now injured in hospital, had described the scene to him over the phone.

'We think he lost his girlfriend that night. She disappeared underwater. She disappeared under the house and she's been missing.

'They both managed to get into the ceiling. When the water kept rising into the ceiling space they had to clamber onto the roof.

'And as they were trying to work their way from the ceiling space onto the roof, only Gareth made it,' Maik said. 'He tried to help her obviously, but a log separated them,' Frederieke said.

Gareth managed to get onto the roof and was rescued by a helicopter after his daughter in Napier had reported him missing.

Meanwhile, a 10-day rāhui has been placed on Hawke’s Bay due to concerns kōiwi (human remains) may have been washed to the sea in the floodwaters of Cyclone Gabrielle.

Mana Ahuriri Trust - the treaty settlement organisation for Ahuriri Hapū - announced the rāhui on Monday morning.

It means a ban on fishing and kaimoana gathering in Hawke’s Bay for at least for the next 10 days.

“Due to the recent Cyclone Gabrielle and the disturbance to our whenua, tangata whenua are still recovering tūpāpaku (bodies) from the ‘still missing list’ from Tangaroa,” the trust posted on Facebook.

“We also believe kōiwi from flooded urupā have been carried through the floods to sea.”