Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro issued a statement this afternoon, expressing solidarity and sympathy for the Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay regions experiencing flooding.
Dame Cindy toured the region just last week, seeing damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the work undertaken to rebuild from it.
In a statement, the Governor-General said:
Having visited Hawke’s Bay and Tairawhiti just last week, and seeing communities like Te Karaka, Tolaga Bay and Wairoa working so hard to rebuild and strengthen resilience after Cyclone Gabrielle, our thoughts and prayers are with the people we met there, knowing that they are yet again dealing with the devastating impact of flooding, slips, road closures and power cuts.
— Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro
Local states of emergency have been declared by district councils in both regions but river levels largely seem to be dropping as the tide goes out.
Some concern remains about high tide at 9pm tonight, with more water yet to flow down from higher catchments and some rain expected to continue into the night.
State Highway 35 has been reopened as well as part of SH38 but SH2 and SH51 remain closed in some places.
Speaking to RNZ this afternoon, Wairoa Mayor Craig Little described the township’s situation as “scary.”
Power in the town has been switched off over fears the river level could affect power substations.