Three suspected self-inflicted deaths in the months following Cyclone Gabrielle have been included in a coroner’s inquiry into 18 fatalities linked to the extreme weather events of early last year.
Coroner Erin Woolley is hearing submissions on the scope and boundaries of an inquiry into deaths linked to the Auckland Anniversary Weekend floods which began on January 27, 2023, and Cyclone Gabrielle, which struck two weeks later.
The youngest of the people who died was toddler Ivy Collins, whose family home in Eskdale was flooded in the cyclone. The oldest was Helen Street, 86, who died in Napier and was dependent on supplied oxygen.
Thirteen of the fatalities were men. In addition to 2-year-old Ivy, four women died.
A hearing at the Hastings District Court on Monday was told that three people who died in the months following the cyclone would be included in the scope of the inquiry. The three men died in March, April and August 2023.
Coroner Woolley is investigating each of the 18 deaths under the Coroner’s Act 2006.
Collectively, she is treating them as a coronial inquiry which will look into a number of issues arising from the floods, the cyclone and the responses of a number of organisations and agencies to the events.
This is a similar approach to that taken in a coroner’s inquiry into the multiple deaths in the Christchurch mosque attacks in 2019.
A preliminary list of issues for the Auckland part of Woolley’s inquiry includes asking what warnings were issued to the public, the weather forecasts, what was known about landslide risks in relevant areas, and whether emergency responses were adequate, timely and appropriate.
The issues being considered for the Hawke’s Bay section include what was known about the risk of flooding at Te Karaka, Eskdale and Puketapu, and the planning decisions made about residential development in those areas.
The coroner is also likely to look at flood warnings, weather event preparedness, and the response of emergency services, given some people who called 111 during the cyclone were told there was no help available.
A counsel appointed to assist the bereaved families, Jane Glover, said during Monday’s hearing that people who had called 111 in “immediate peril” during the cyclone were told they were on their own.
Coroner Woolley said she had been wondering about the messaging that was given to people calling 111, and how it impacted the decisions they then made.
“It could invoke more panic, more distress and people doing the wrong thing,” she said.
Family members might also feel the need to rush out into the path of danger in response, the coroner said.
However, she said that she did not have the jurisdiction to make inquiries into all of the calls made, or the wider 111 system generally.
Another of the preliminary issues being considered concerns the likelihood and consequences of rivers breaking their banks, flood mitigation measures, and whether forestry practices and debris such as slash contributed to any deaths.
Other factors included the capacity of the phone network, public messages about the state of roads, and the plans of health authorities and electricity providers for people reliant on oxygen supply.
Coroner Woolley said that the inquests were likely to be heard late next year.
In a minute issued after receiving submissions in Auckland last month, Coroner Woolley said she anticipated holding hearings in both Auckland and Hastings, and grouping the fatalities around which weather event the death resulted from.
“Further detail about this will be decided in due course. However, by way of example, the deaths resulting from the Auckland flood event would be heard together and grouped according to the issues involved.
“Three of these deaths resulted from drowning events and involve similar issues, so they would likely form one group.
“The deaths resulting from the cyclone in Auckland would form another group. The deaths resulting from the cyclone in Hawke’s Bay would be heard together, and grouped according to the common issues that arise from each death.”
Daniel Miller, 34, Dave Young, 58, Daniel Newth, 25, and David Lennard, 78, died during the Auckland Anniversary Weekend floods.
Two Muriwai volunteer firefighters, Craig Stevens, 39, and Dave van Zwanenberg, 41, died two weeks later as Cyclone Gabrielle struck on February 13.
The cyclone was also associated with 12 deaths in Hawke’s Bay, Tairāwhiti Gisborne and surrounding areas.
Nine of them have been previously named: Susane Caccioppoli, 55, John Coates, 64, Ivy Collins, 2, Marie Greene, 59, George Luke, 64, Ian McLauchlan, 76, Brendan Miller, 43, Helen Street, 86, and Shona Wilson, 58.
The other three were those deaths which occurred in the following months.
Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay.
