Concerns for Māori and disabled as state of emergency declared in Northland

Tuesday, 31 January 2023

Heavy Rain Warnings remain in place for parts of the North Island, including Northland and Auckland.

Concerns are being raised for the safety of Māori and disabled people in Northland after a state of emergency was declared on Tuesday afternoon.

Northland Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) group chair Kelly Stratford signed the emergency declaration at 1pm.

The region is bracing for heavy rain following a major flood event in Tāmaki Makaurau that has killed four people and damaged around 5000 properties.

Te Kahu o Taonui spokesperson Huhana Lyndon said iwi throughout Tai Tokerau were mobilising to support the efforts of Civil Defence Northland.

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Huhana Lyndon says marae throughout the rohe are ready to take anyone needing help.

“There is unanimous support for the call to move to a state of emergency. We need to ensure Tai Tokerau is resourced and supported to keep our people safe across the rohe.”

Marae and community halls had opened their doors to vulnerable whānau and were ready to support anyone who needed help, she said.

Everyone in Tai Tokerau had come together and were united in ensuring the wellbeing of residents was central to any decision-making, she said.

“As iwi of Te Tai Tokerau we have marae as well as community halls within our kāinga, within our rohe, that are open and are ready,” said Lyndon.

Some marae were welcoming people as early as last night and were well resourced to support anyone who needed help.

Lyndon said that was the benefit of marae, hapū, iwi and community working alongside each other.

Teams were already taking shopping out to marae bases, to help tide families over for the next few days.

A state of emergency has been declared in Northland and concerns are being raised for Māori and disabled in the area.

“That’s the type of approach that we are taking. There’s no judgment, if you are in need or if you have run out of supplies, we don’t want you on the road.”

“Come to our marae or to the community bases that are advertised through Civil Defence … and you will receive the manaaki and support that you need.”

Lawyer and disability advocate Huhana Hickey (Ngāti Tāhinga, Whakatōhea) said she wants emergency management to be proactive to ensure the disability community is kept safe.

“I know there’s a lot of very resilient disabled that live up Northland, in particular our Māori,” she said.

“I would be very worried about the flooding around the low-lying areas. They need to be proactive and identify the people they know who need to possibly get evacuated, and get them evacuated.”

Jonny Wilkinson said it would be harder for disabled people to cope with a natural disaster in Northland compared to cities.

Hickey said there was often more danger in rural areas during flooding than in the cities.

“Some of those roads… it’s appalling, and in a storm that would be terrible if anyone got trapped,” she said.

“They need to look at where the danger zones are, where the flood areas are, and get the people out of those areas ASAP.”

Johnny Wilkinson, chief executive of Northland disability organisation Tiaho Trust, said it would be a lot harder for disabled people to cope with a natural disaster in Northland compared to major cities.

He said Northland's rural areas led to isolation, and there was a significant digital divide.

“A lot of disabled people don’t have access to the internet and a lot of information tends to be distributed in a digital way,” he said.

He said there was no cohesive plan from officials around how to support disabled people in an emergency.

Wilkinson, who has cerebral palsy, said “the onus appeared to be put on disabled people making their own individual plans”.

He hadn’t made emergency preparations himself since the Northland state of emergency was declared but was monitoring the weather forecast; he described the weather as “moderate” when the announcement was made.

He thought that people’s individual needs and different situations probably contributed to the lack of an official cohesive emergency plan for the disablity community.

But government officials and service providers should take more responsibility to develop better individual plans on what to do in an emergency, Wilkinson said.

Disability support provider IDEA Services is prepared to evacuate people in Northland “based on risk” and would “continue to monitor people based on the current conditions”.

An IDEA Services spokesperson said local staff were on hand to help ensure the people it supports were safe during any natural disaster.

“Particularly because of the recent Cyclone Hale warnings, we were already prepared for evacuating people and ensuring they had emergency kits on hand and up to date,” they said.

“Oftentimes, because the people we support are more vulnerable, we need to act quickly ahead of a state of emergency when weather conditions are proving to be bad.

“This is especially important for people we support with high and complex needs whose medical equipment sometimes cannot easily be moved from their own home.”

CDEM group controller Graeme MacDonald said his team were ready and prepared to help people with disabilities.

“We’re actually in the process of working with one of the rest homes in the Far North at the moment to provide them assistance to evacuate,” he said.

”If there are people who have disabilities or any other needs, they should reach out to us as they do require assistance.'