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17. February 2023 17:49
RNZ Live
What you need to know: 
  • Residents in Gisborne can use water again following a fix to the treatment works, but they should still try to conserve it.
  • A national state of emergency has been declared. It is only the third in New Zealand's history.
  • Auckland, Northland, Tairāwhiti, Bay of Plenty, Ōpōtiki, Whakatāne, Waikato, Thames-Coromandel, Hauraki, Tararua, and Napier and Hastings had already declared local states of emergency. 
  • Nine people have been confirmed killed in the storm, including a child and two firefighters.
  • Hundreds are still without water or power in Gisborne.
  • Additional police officers will be arriving in Hawke's Bay and Tairāwhiti to help with recovery efforts.
  • And the navy's HMNZS Canterbury is on route to Hawke's Bay to help with aid.
  • Many rivers remain flooded with water levels dangerously high and police say people should stay away and not put themselves at risk.
  • More than 4500 people have been registered as uncontactable.
  • Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has warned the rebuild from Cyclone Gabrielle will be enormous and lengthy. 
  • Want to help? Here's how.
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17. February 2023 17:43
RNZ Live
National Emergency Management Agency advice:

  • Put safety first. Don't take any chances. Act quickly if you see rising water. Floods and flash floods can happen quickly. If you see rising water do not wait for official warnings. Head for higher ground and stay away from floodwater.
  • Do not try to walk, play, swim, or drive in floodwater: even water just 15 centimetres deep can sweep you off your feet, and half a metre of water will carry away most vehicles.
  • If you have evacuated, please stay where you are until you are given the all-clear to go home.
  • If you don't need to evacuate, support those who do by staying home, staying off roads and staying safe.
  • If you are not able to contact your whānau in the heavily affected areas go to Police 105 website and complete the inquiry form or phone 105 and remember to update if you reconnect through other means.
  • Throw away food and drinking water that has come into contact with floodwater as it is often contaminated and can make you sick.
  • If you are without power eat the food from your fridge first, then your freezer. Then eat the food in the cupboard or your emergency kit.
  • People should stay up to date with the forecasts from MetService and continue to follow the advice of civil defence and emergency services.
  • A National State of Emergency is in place for an initial period of seven days and applies to regions that have declared a local State of Emergency.
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No posts for now
18. February 2023 08:10
RNZ Live
And we're finishing off Saturday's live blog coverage there, but RNZ bulletins and radio programmes will continue through the night on air, and the web and live blog team will be back with more coverage tomorrow morning.  
Keep safe everyone!
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18. February 2023 08:08
RNZ Live

Civil Defence was out today getting a bird's eye view of cyclone damage west of Gisborne today.


A helicopter flew over the region this afternoon with RNZ reporter Kate Green on board.

She said it gave officials a better idea of where help was needed.

"The most spectacular thing we saw was probably a land slide that Civil Defence has been tipped off to by someone who's phoned in, in concern I suppose for the residents.

"A huge huge chunk of the hill has slid down and has come to rest metres from this home. The team I was flying with said it was probably a red sticker job, but it really gave a sense of that scale, just monstrous amounts of earth had crashed down off the hill."

Kate Green said the flight showed that more resources were needed in northern regions of Tairāwhiti.

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18. February 2023 08:04
RNZ Live

A Hawke's Bay farmer says some farms are struggling to keep their animals that survived the cyclone alive. 


Rural communities inland from Napier, such as Patoka, had no road access and many feed stores were destroyed or going mouldy after water exposure. 

Patoka resident and vet Sally Newall said people had serious concerns, and were grappling with issues like dead stock in water sources. 

"Fonterra have told all the dairy farmers up here to dry off, so they're all drying off this week. We do have a couple of dairy farms that are calving at the moment, so they can't dry off.

"We've got $1.5m of stock bulls on our farm that we can't get out.

"So everybody is really worried, people are not sleeping at night."

Newall said the community was putting on a brave face and regularly checking in on each other where possible.

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18. February 2023 07:58
RNZ Live

A lifelong Waikaremoana resident says they are running out of food in the back blocks.

Tahuri o te Rangi Trainor Tate and whānau travelled to Wairoa today to stock up.

He said the roads were damaged but the area was not inundated by flood waters when the cyclone hit.

He believed there were about 300 people who had not eaten much for days.

"There's no food in Waikaremoana. Now we've got to get them to ... sign us off so we can get food for our whānau and then go back to Waikaremoana.  But we can't do that unless we can get petrol."

Tate said the community was coping.
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18. February 2023 07:43
RNZ Live
Some more pictures from Waiohiki, where teams were out cleaning up today.
At Waiohiki
At Waiohiki   credit: RNZ/ Sally Murphy
Some of the Waiohiki clean up crew
Some of the Waiohiki clean up crew   credit: RNZ/ Sally Murphy
Waiohiki
Waiohiki   credit: RNZ/ Sally Murphy
Waiohiki
Waiohiki   credit: RNZ/ Sally Murphy
Waiohiki as clean-up efforts were underway on Saturday 18 February
Waiohiki as clean-up efforts were underway on Saturday 18 February   credit: RNZ/ Sally Murphy
Waiohiki
Waiohiki   credit: RNZ/ Sally Murphy
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18. February 2023 07:35
RNZ Live


Water remains critically low in Gisborne.

The Gisborne District Council is still urging residents to strictly conserve water.

Work was continuing, to secure the water supply in the back-up dam, but water stocks were low.

Residents and businesses on town supply were being told to use it for food preparation, short showers and drinking. 

A clean up was ongoing in affected areas, especially Te Karaka where the infrastructure had been the worst affected.
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18. February 2023 07:33
RNZ Live

A temporary Hawke's Bay animal shelter is looking after lost dogs, injured pigeons and even goldfish.


Vicki Gilchrist said most of the dogs brought to the shelter at the Hastings Racecourse were in good condition.

They were all being shampooed and fed.

"There's quite a few dogs brought in, and some cats as well. Most of the dogs are ... enjoying a feed and a nice bed," Gilchrist said.

"There's a few chickens been brought in, some goldfish, and some injured wildlife, some pigeons."

Gilchrist said many animals had been found roaming.
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18. February 2023 07:28
RNZ Live

NZTA reminds everyone in affected areas to: "Only travel if you need to. Nonessential travel is hampering our work and is creating unnecessary traffic, slowing down progress."

Tairāwhiti Civil Defence just posted an update on the area's highways for those who do need to travel.

  • SH2 Gisborne via Opotiki is open 7am - 7pm for all traffic
  • SH2 Gisborne to Wairoa is open 7am - 7pm
  • SH2 Napier to Wairoa remains closed and will be for some time
  • SH35 between Tolaga Bay and Te Puia Springs remains closed with a bridge out, an alternative will take time

They asked those travelling to drive to the conditions, as there was silt and debris in some places, and there could be delays as roadworks crews were out doing repairs.

Tairāwhiti Civil Defence said during the hours the highways were open, trucks driving for transport companies were no longer limited to only travelling in convoys.
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