Extreme Weather
-
we had 3 power outages last year, pretty tame weather events.
We had our power restored yesterday, have just bought an 8kw generator, to hopefully never need to use, manily for the septic and tanks water, but with that power will be enough to charge shit up and even add a luxury or 2 like Wifi/TV...
Damage reports still trickling in, but I know so many are still without power, and some have been told they may have upto a week more.
I gotta give kudos to Northpower, the amount of replacement poles, line, transformers etc they must have to have on hand must be massive, update today that something like 365 dairy farms of 500 known are back with power and 65 due to come back today too, cos not milking cows brings other issues!
NZ sadly though, has a lack of foresight when it comes to infrastructure, cost cutting or band aids seems to be the way.
-
-
@Snowy make a list, take some pics of the damaged stuff before disposal and where possible get pricing for replacement, even if just what your local supermarket is selling it for.
Thing is with an event like this, your insurer will be going to thier re-insurers so they have to quantify losses to them, although a smaller claim like yours should be easy enough although low priority.
-
Yikes.
/cloudfront-ap-southeast-2.images.arcpublishing.com/nzme/YNCQOPBD6BDPFGG5JTCXLSAFVE.jpg)
The family of a truck driver stranded on a destroyed section of State Highway 2 in northern Hawke’s Bay has spoken out after a startling Defence Force photograph showed his vehicle stranded amongst utter devastation on a corner known as the ‘Devil’s Elbow’.
The photograph was taken by the NZDF as they surveyed the key route, showing the damage wrought by surging waters and the forestry slash they carried.
The driver was travelling back to Hastings on Monday when he went missing, his family confirmed to the Herald.
He endured a harrowing wait until 10pm on Tuesday before he was airlifted to safety.
He is now resting and recovering at home, said his family, who were eager to let people know he was safe.
“The main thing we’d like people who see that terrible picture to know is that he is safe,” a family spokesperson said. “He is currently in quite a bit of shock and not in a position to comment, (he) just needs to get his mindset back.”
From this article: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/cyclone-gabrielle-truck-driver-rescued-from-devils-elbow-on-state-highway-2/AHODL5YDDFFZZK3PNWM4FLS4CE/ -
@Stargazer fuck i bet old mate needed new shorts after that!
-
@Mackerzzzz said in Extreme Weather:
NapierFloods are such an insidious adverse weather event. Long after the waters recede you end up finding the extent of the damage. For homes, this means practically everything. While you can stack items above the waterline, the realisation as you clean up that the plaster requires removal etc. Repeat the process and people eventually give up hope.
-
@antipodean and thats the next part to events such as this, the mental toll it takes on everyone, I know people that get anxious everytime it rains now after having an event such as this when water is knee/waist high in your home.
I mean we got off pretty lightly up here compared to other parts, but I had 2 sleepless nights over the weekend, now spending my days talking to people that have thier livelihoods in the balance, its just heartbreaking.
The emergency services (many of them volunteers), those essential services (linesmen, truckies etc) all these people that at a time when you want to be with family, are out working and helping communities to keep the world ticking over, and then there will be the ones dealing with the grief of finding people losing thier lives, just a brutal situation
After Covid and everything else in the past few years, this could well be the breaking point for many.
So, so many people impacted.
-
@Stargazer I was wondering if that guy made it out. Bugger that.
It’s a hell of a road at the best of times.
My Uncle, Aunty and cousins are still on the family farm up in Putorino north of there. Cut off both ways. A neighbour has starlink (I might buy some shares) and managed to say they were okay. They may just have to kill a few sheep and go on the Rogan diet for a couple of weeks.
They said it’s way worse than Bola. My mates family in Te Pohue (anecdotally and maybe recency bias) say it’s about 10 x as bad on the land but they also measured 700 mLs in 30 hours so I believe them.In better news, my mate and family are safe from the Esk flooding. They got rescued when the water was half way up the house.
I managed to talk with a lot of people today and they are all in fairly good spirits, so far. Lots of talk about forestry, slash and accountability though.
-
@DMack Good to hear your family is okay and that your mate and family are safe, too! We have an aunt and uncle we haven't heard from, yet. A mate of mine is now trying to go and check.
I wish I had a clearer idea of what places are flooded and inaccessible, at the moment.
-
Also posted in the match thread:
hurricanesrugby
Calling for donations of canned food
Our friends at Resene and Salvation Army are collecting canned food for those who have been hit the hardest by Cyclone Gabrielle. People have lost their homes, and many are without basic necessities.
You can drop your canned food to any Resene store, nationwide, and we’ll also have a can drop at both Hurricanes matches this weekend:
Hurricanes v Crusaders, Friday’s 5PM @Levin Domain
Poua v Matatu, Saturday 11:30AM @ Porirua Park
Come on whanau, let’s get behind those in need. Every can counts
-
Esk Valley seems to be a goner Orchards and vineyards just disappeared.
Our Hastings branch was fine but staff couldn't get there until today
The air bnb we were supposed to have from yesterday has been turned into emergency accomodation which was great to learn. Still no power though.
So many places devastated Just wish I could do something to help
-
So many stories .. this is one of many.
-
-
@Stargazer yea that was a hard read.
-
It smashed the family farm, lots of slips and broken fences, but fortunately no livestock killed or buildings flooded. The Omahu settlement got flooded as the Ngararoro river broke its banks. This submerged the substation, so Mum and Dad will be without power for potentially weeks. They have a generator fortunately.
-
@DMack said in Extreme Weather:
@Stargazer I was wondering if that guy made it out. Bugger that.
It’s a hell of a road at the best of times.
My Uncle, Aunty and cousins are still on the family farm up in Putorino north of there. Cut off both ways. A neighbour has starlink (I might buy some shares) and managed to say they were okay. They may just have to kill a few sheep and go on the Rogan diet for a couple of weeks.
They said it’s way worse than Bola. My mates family in Te Pohue (anecdotally and maybe recency bias) say it’s about 10 x as bad on the land but they also measured 700 mLs in 30 hours so I believe them.In better news, my mate and family are safe from the Esk flooding. They got rescued when the water was half way up the house.
I managed to talk with a lot of people today and they are all in fairly good spirits, so far. Lots of talk about forestry, slash and accountability though.
appears that bola had more rain highest recording was over 900ml makes you wonder what effect slash had on the flooding
-
@dogmeat said in Extreme Weather:
@Crucial Now add Omahu Waiohiki Jervoistown and Meeanee
Flood protection on Tutaekuri has failed.
We are due to drive down early Thursday - if roads are open
Gabrielle better not interfere with my (two) Gin Distillery events
I am in Meeanee and have a sister in Jerviostown. We both escaped serious flooding but there were houses within 100 metres that had to be evacuated so could count ourselves lucky in that respect.
Where I stay in Meeanee is probably only about a kilometre away as the crow flies from the Brookfields Bridge which sadly is no more. Some of the houses belonging to/associated with other long established Meeanee familes (close to 100 years or more in some cases) were not so lucky, especially those close to the Tutaekuri river at Brookfields where a number of those homes were flooded to roof level if the reports are true. One of those probably only 700metres less than from here. How the water never reached the part of Meeanee where I am is astonishing???? I often take a dog that has taken up residence at my place walking past there and it is scarcely believable how they got caught in the first place and we missed out given the complete flatness of the area. The most fortuitous thing is that that old Tutaekuri River bed flowed past less than 50 metres away from this house until it was rechannelled out to Awatoto. My great-grandfather had this property in those days and my older siblings can recall him telling them of flooding stories when they were very young (way before my time!)We have had no power, local phones, internet and mobile service until the mobile service came on again late last night. Ironic how I can receive calls from outside of the HB on the old copper wire landline but cannot make outbound calls of any kind (local or toll), so much for old technology!
Being in a "rural" area I suspect that we could be one of the last to get reconnected to the electrical grid so it looks like at least another few days or maybe even weeks) of cooking on an old portable gas camping cooker and washing clothing by hand (and believe me with a mother closer to 100 than she is to 90 there are lots needing attention every day!) Still it is what it is and we are way better off than many others are.
Being in a rural area we do not have the fancy extra fast top of the line rapid internet service and need power to spark the modem/router into action to keep up with our regular haunts. That was not possible until a couple of hours ago when a nephew arrived down from Auckland (via Ashurst thanks to road closures!) with a portable generator so we are up and running to a very limited degree. No generator going = no internet.
Fortunately the internet service seems to be working and as long as the generator is going we should be ok in that regard. On the downside we will be using it only spasmodically once the freezer is fully back to frozen temperature to simply maintain what we have in there due to its noise and petrol fumes it emits.There was a surprising amount of stuff salvagable that was down low and in solid frozen pieces, roasts and other red meats mainly. On the other hand the softish whitemeats were up in the baskets so out had to go all the chicken and fish/seafood, of which there was quite a lot. All the berries, ice cream, vegetables, bread etc were all defrosted and needed biffing onto the compost heap but at least the bread is still edible! The jury is still out on the frozen fruitjuices made from our oranges and tangeloes. Luckily the frozen peaches from our tree still seem ok which is just as well as the tree did a sulk this year and did not fruit.
Oh one thing having to have a dump in the middle of the night without any lighting does come with a few extra problems!!!!!
I have rediscovered the pleasure and time filling practice of doing 1500 piece jigsaw puzzles (until it gets too dark about 8.00pm) and then reading by candlelight! Not quite so enjoyable however is the warm beers that I have been consuming, they are not as yuck as people claim them to be, despite the rather different flavour to them in their chilled states.
Hopefully this gives a little insight into how things are progressing for the not so badly affected people after what must have been a truly horrific period for those in the Eskdale, Waiohiki and Omahu areas plus a lot of the real remote rural areas up country like Sherenden, Puketitri, Patoka, Tutira etc, not to mention the Wairoa district and the East Coast areas.
