Cyclone Gabrielle impacts on NZ - Feb 12-16

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Re: Cyclone Gabrielle impacts on NZ - Feb 12-16

Unread post by BeaconHill »

BeaconHill wrote: Thu 16/02/2023 13:15 We have a family member who has lost everything in the Gillian’s Road area of Pakowhai. Both the Ngaruroro and Tutaekuri rivers broke their banks, and water VERY quickly flooded their property. They made it out with nothing but their cellphones and the old Ute, and had to drive through waist deep water to escape.
Had some great news today. They went back and found their cat hiding in the rafters of the 2 story high farm shed. House is still standing but was 100% submerged. Evident by the fact ALL of the ceiling Gib had come down! And the chest freezer in the double garage had ended up floating up and then settling on top of the car! Gave them some small smiles at least.
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Re: Cyclone Gabrielle impacts on NZ - Feb 12-16

Unread post by Richard »

BeaconHill wrote: Fri 17/02/2023 20:00
BeaconHill wrote: Thu 16/02/2023 13:15 We have a family member who has lost everything in the Gillian’s Road area of Pakowhai. Both the Ngaruroro and Tutaekuri rivers broke their banks, and water VERY quickly flooded their property. They made it out with nothing but their cellphones and the old Ute, and had to drive through waist deep water to escape.
Had some great news today. They went back and found their cat hiding in the rafters of the 2 story high farm shed. House is still standing but was 100% submerged. Evident by the fact ALL of the ceiling Gib had come down! And the chest freezer in the double garage had ended up floating up and then settling on top of the car! Gave them some small smiles at least.
Surely not the ceiling Gib on the second story, that's huge 8-o
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Re: Cyclone Gabrielle impacts on NZ - Feb 12-16

Unread post by JP. »

Richard wrote: Fri 17/02/2023 20:09
BeaconHill wrote: Fri 17/02/2023 20:00

Had some great news today. They went back and found their cat hiding in the rafters of the 2 story high farm shed. House is still standing but was 100% submerged. Evident by the fact ALL of the ceiling Gib had come down! And the chest freezer in the double garage had ended up floating up and then settling on top of the car! Gave them some small smiles at least.
Surely not the ceiling Gib on the second story, that's huge 8-o

Think he means the cat was in the two story farm shed. The house single level under water to the ceiling.

I had a look at pictures from the Zeelandt brewery in Esk Valley. The high water mark looks at least 2.5 meters high on the side of their brewery. Absolutely insane.
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Re: Cyclone Gabrielle impacts on NZ - Feb 12-16

Unread post by jamie »

Have all our regular hawksbay contributors been accounted for?
Horrific stories of loss and incredible accounts of survival.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Re: Cyclone Gabrielle impacts on NZ - Feb 12-16

Unread post by spwill »

Ryza117 wrote: Thu 16/02/2023 23:22 Patoka - Inland Hawkes bay. We’ve been cut off since Tuesday night no power, both bridges are gone (Rissington & Dartmoor) All cellphone towers are down (we’ve got Starlink and a generator) We’ve just managed to start to clear the roads around us today to access more people around us. The place is just devastation, slips everywhere, pretty much every bridge gone or unusable. It’s going to be weeks before we have access to town at this stage. Thankfully we’ve been getting regular supply drops over the last few days by helicopter.

We had 440mm over 24hours and around 200mm between 12am - 6am Tuesday morning.
Thanks for the report Ryza117. Not surprised by that amount of rain given the damage we are seeing for parts of Hawkes Bay. All the best with the clean up. I hope our government can step up and give Hawkes Bay all the support it needs to get things back to near normal as quickly as possible.
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Re: Cyclone Gabrielle impacts on NZ - Feb 12-16

Unread post by spwill »

David wrote: Fri 17/02/2023 12:47 I've just noticed this Auckland council site at Piha showing 357mm between 8am on the 13th and 8am on the 14th 8-o
https://environmentauckland.org.nz/Data ... AR/2023/02

This would certainly explain the major flooding and slips they are dealing with over there. I don't remember seeing the rain so much more intense over there on radar at the time interestingly (much of Auckland got 100-150mm).

The pre-event data looks all good so no reason to doubt the accuracy of the data. Truely astonishing!
I was surprised by that rainfall number out west. A truly remarkable period of weather when you include the event just two weeks earlier.
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Re: Cyclone Gabrielle impacts on NZ - Feb 12-16

Unread post by Cherie »

spwill wrote: Wed 15/02/2023 21:58
Simon Culling wrote: Wed 15/02/2023 19:37 The story made the main news here in the UK and the reports concentrated on the flooding aspects of both Gabrielle and the very wet weather in the preceding month.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-64645510
Northern NZ has not seen a Summer like this one in living memory. The Auckland flash flood event two weeks ago was called a 1-in-200 year event by Niwa. Cyclone Gabrielle bringing more widespread significant rain and strong wind + storm surge to some areas.
This is so true. I’ve been in Akl 11 years, which I know is isn’t v long in the scheme of things, but you could pretty much guarantee a decent month or so at least from early Jan at the latest under a big high with lovely warm, settled days. That never happened this summer.
I wouldn’t say it’s been cold, but the weather has been chaotic what feels like about 80% of the time.
Yes last summer lasted from Nov to April and barely rained.
And last winter was very mild, but other winters it’s rained every day in July/Aug (2018 from memory).
It feels like it’s just one extreme season after another and makes me wonder sometimes if I want to keep living here. Bleak!
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Re: Cyclone Gabrielle impacts on NZ - Feb 12-16

Unread post by Achten »

we just dodged a bullet here at home, got a we bit precarious there at once stage with a creek flooding behind us and water pouring down our drive way. Our rural property was flooded but not to the extent of others. Power is on here with limited internet. You get quite emotional when you see the damage and here every ones stories and near misses.
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Re: Cyclone Gabrielle impacts on NZ - Feb 12-16

Unread post by spwill »

Cherie wrote: Sun 19/02/2023 01:55
spwill wrote: Wed 15/02/2023 21:58
Northern NZ has not seen a Summer like this one in living memory. The Auckland flash flood event two weeks ago was called a 1-in-200 year event by Niwa. Cyclone Gabrielle bringing more widespread significant rain and strong wind + storm surge to some areas.
This is so true. I’ve been in Akl 11 years, which I know is isn’t v long in the scheme of things, but you could pretty much guarantee a decent month or so at least from early Jan at the latest under a big high with lovely warm, settled days. That never happened this summer.
I wouldn’t say it’s been cold, but the weather has been chaotic what feels like about 80% of the time.
Yes last summer lasted from Nov to April and barely rained.
And last winter was very mild, but other winters it’s rained every day in July/Aug (2018 from memory).
It feels like it’s just one extreme season after another and makes me wonder sometimes if I want to keep living here. Bleak!
I've lived in Auckland over 20 years and not seen a period of weather this even in Winter. By NZ standards Auckland has a good climate and I think overall a reasonable climate by global standards. Auckland climate is not a climate of extremes. I've lived in Brisbane and Sydney and they both have negative sides to their climate.
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Re: Cyclone Gabrielle impacts on NZ - Feb 12-16

Unread post by harleyb »

I made a few enquiries at my workplace about how we could help with the cleanup, and I've managed to secure a week of paid leave to go over and pitch in which is really generous of them. Have wheelbarrow, shovel, chainsaw + fuel and I just need to find out now where I could be of use to someone. I have been offered a place to stay in Napier if I need it but don't mind where I end up so long as I'm of use. Let me know if you're one of those affected in Hawkes Bay who could do with a hand.
Last edited by harleyb on Fri 03/03/2023 07:58, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Cyclone Gabrielle impacts on NZ - Feb 12-16

Unread post by Storm Struck »

harleyb wrote: Sun 19/02/2023 09:27 I made a few enquiries at my workplace about how we could help with the cleanup, and I've managed to secure a week of paid leave to go over and pitch in which is really generous of them. Have wheelbarrow, shovel, chainsaw + fuel and I just need to find out now where I could be of use to someone. I have been offered a place to stay in Napier if I need it but don't mind where I end up so long as I'm of use. Let me know if you're one of those affected in Hawkes Bay who could do with a hand. 0210318467.
It's with this resilience and the time to help others out that makes New Zealand such a great place to live, so thank you for your time and effort.
I've spent time in the community helping out after the first earthquake down here, it's just instilled in us what we do for anyone.
Hopefully an event like this will open people's eyes to not be so blarzay and think they are invincible against the weather when warnings happen.
Canterbury, home of good rugby and severe storms
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Re: Cyclone Gabrielle impacts on NZ - Feb 12-16

Unread post by Ash »

From my perspective I wonder if the Goverment can afford this disaster recovery.
How can the regional council afford recovery?
The talk if dead laying under the silt is confronting.
I too would help, but I'm not sure work will even pay me for the four days I couldn't get to work.
There is no wastewater plant now in Napier. For the last week sewage has been going straight into the sea and the surrounding floodwaters.
The silt is contaminated and becomes a hazard when it dries out. If your helping wear a mask and protective clothing.
The roads are unbelievabley destroyed and the horticulture has been eliminated.
It's worrying that the the next rain event might only be around the corner as we move into Autumn and whay is traditionally the wettest time of year.
That's my moan sorry, but I'm starting to feel like there is no future in this country with high taxes and the relentless eating away at the childless middle class. (The working poor).
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Re: Cyclone Gabrielle impacts on NZ - Feb 12-16

Unread post by BeaconHill »

2nd day in a row there are multiple Aerial Surveying planes up taking imagery of the worst affected areas of the East Coast. There were 4 planes in the air most of Sunday, and 3 currently on Monday. The results of these will be critical in assessing the full scale of the devastation.
Surveying.png
Surveying2.png
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Re: Cyclone Gabrielle impacts on NZ - Feb 12-16

Unread post by Nev »

BeaconHill wrote: Mon 20/02/2023 12:05 2nd day in a row there are multiple Aerial Surveying planes up taking imagery of the worst affected areas of the East Coast. There were 4 planes in the air most of Sunday, and 3 currently on Monday. The results of these will be critical in assessing the full scale of the devastation.

Surveying.png

Surveying2.png
I heard they were using LiDAR technology (3D laser mapping), which can also see through vegetation, etc.
They should also be able to compare those with recent LiDAR scans done around Hawke’s Bay only about 15 months ago.
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Re: Cyclone Gabrielle impacts on NZ - Feb 12-16

Unread post by tgsnoopy »

BeaconHill wrote: Mon 20/02/2023 12:05 2nd day in a row there are multiple Aerial Surveying planes up taking imagery of the worst affected areas of the East Coast. There were 4 planes in the air most of Sunday, and 3 currently on Monday. The results of these will be critical in assessing the full scale of the devastation.

Surveying.png

Surveying2.png
Ya missed one, take a gander at ZK-MAP. I'm really worried about what will be found as this progresses :-(
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Re: Cyclone Gabrielle impacts on NZ - Feb 12-16

Unread post by Orion »

Ash wrote: Mon 20/02/2023 06:28 From my perspective I wonder if the Goverment can afford this disaster recovery.
How can the regional council afford recovery?
The talk if dead laying under the silt is confronting.
I too would help, but I'm not sure work will even pay me for the four days I couldn't get to work.
There is no wastewater plant now in Napier. For the last week sewage has been going straight into the sea and the surrounding floodwaters.
The silt is contaminated and becomes a hazard when it dries out. If your helping wear a mask and protective clothing.
The roads are unbelievabley destroyed and the horticulture has been eliminated.
It's worrying that the the next rain event might only be around the corner as we move into Autumn and whay is traditionally the wettest time of year.
That's my moan sorry, but I'm starting to feel like there is no future in this country with high taxes and the relentless eating away at the childless middle class. (The working poor).
Ash, this has been a disaster for your region and there will be challenges and sadness ahead.

It is still very early days and I am confident the challenges will be overcome as they were after 1931, the 1938 flooding event*, and others.

I hope you are able to receive support yourself through this.

Good wishes to you.

Link to New Zealand Defence Force response:

https://www.nzdf.mil.nz/nzdf/significan ... gabrielle/

*Link to NIWA April 1938 Gisborne and Hawke's Bay Flooding:

https://hwe.niwa.co.nz/event/April_1938 ... andslides.
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Re: Cyclone Gabrielle impacts on NZ - Feb 12-16

Unread post by Thunder081 »

Himawari-8 satellite and radar timelapse.

Wellington southerly front timelapse: www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBl3hsuIg2Q
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Re: Cyclone Gabrielle impacts on NZ - Feb 12-16

Unread post by Nev »

Thunder081 wrote: Tue 21/02/2023 23:14 Himawari-8 satellite and radar timelapse.
Moot point, but I think Himawari-8 was replaced by Himawari-9 about 2 months ago. :-)

Great images! Easy to track Gabrielle's centre on the sat animation...
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Re: Cyclone Gabrielle impacts on NZ - Feb 12-16

Unread post by Richard »

Orion wrote: Tue 21/02/2023 08:38


*Link to NIWA April 1938 Gisborne and Hawke's Bay Flooding:

https://hwe.niwa.co.nz/event/April_1938 ... andslides.
Anyone know where I can get rainfall totals for this event
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Re: Cyclone Gabrielle impacts on NZ - Feb 12-16

Unread post by Orion »

Richard wrote: Fri 24/02/2023 07:31
Orion wrote: Tue 21/02/2023 08:38


*Link to NIWA April 1938 Gisborne and Hawke's Bay Flooding:

https://hwe.niwa.co.nz/event/April_1938 ... andslides.
Anyone know where I can get rainfall totals for this event
There are some rainfall totals within the article as you scroll down through the panel to the left,
e.g." Puketitiri recorded 1001 mm (100.1 cm) of rain in three days (which has a return period of well over 150 years)",
"Putorino recorded 815 mm (81.5 cm) of rain in three days (which has a return period of well over 150 years)".

and others.
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Re: Cyclone Gabrielle impacts on NZ - Feb 12-16

Unread post by Richard »

Thanks, that link wouldn't open for me
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Re: Cyclone Gabrielle impacts on NZ - Feb 12-16

Unread post by David »

Some incredible numbers reported by a Davis station in Hawkes Bay:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/hawkes-ba ... VGVQXP4VE/
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Re: Cyclone Gabrielle impacts on NZ - Feb 12-16

Unread post by Orion »

Before and After - Cyclone Gabrielle - Railway destroyed at Awatoto [8:19]

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Re: Cyclone Gabrielle impacts on NZ - Feb 12-16

Unread post by NZ Thunderstorm Soc »

Just seen the above video from Geoff. Probably a feat to restore like the railway line like it was to restore the line through the Kaikoura area after the earthquake.
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Re: Cyclone Gabrielle impacts on NZ - Feb 12-16

Unread post by Richard »

The more photos/videos I see the more I am noticing is that it is not just pine slash but instead there huge amounts of crack willow. If you think about it, the rivers banks around NZ were extensively plants 40-50 years ago, much of these trees are getting old and far more prone to being ripped out of the ground when a major rainfall event by the pine slash pushing up against it , its a double whammy
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