Kātahi anō a Michaela Uerata ka hoki atu i te tāwharautanga nui o Te Matatini ki ngā whakawhiu a Tāwhirimātea i tōna wā kāinga, ki Piripane.
Ko te āwhā nui o Huripari Alfred tērā e kainamu mai ana i te uru o Queensland me te raki o New South Wales i Ahitereiria.
“It was crazy coming back from Taranaki where the sun was shining really brightly and then coming back and it’s all cloudy, very windy and really grey here,” te kī a Uerata, kaitautoko o te kapa haka o Te Hau Tawhiti.
“It’s definitely hard coming from a place with kotahitanga, and then coming here and [it’s] quite [an] isolated feeling.”
Nō te Tūrei kua pahure ake nei, tau atu ai a Uerata ki Piripane, me tana tūmeke ki ngā karere ohotata mō Huripari Alfred.
“It was quite shocking - [I] landed in the nighttime about 6 pm and had to go shopping the next day.
“A lot of people are panic buying - there’s no bread, eggs [or] toilet paper.”
Huripari Alfred - te āwhā nui e kainamu mai ana
Cyclone Alfred is currently affecting South East Queensland and the New South Wales North Coast in Australia. This is a Category 2 cyclone, about 160km east of Brisbane, moving slowly towards the southeast Queensland coast.
The cyclone is expected to hit land between Noosa and Coolangatta, possibly north of Brisbane, late Friday or early Saturday.
Uerata says, “The airports are all closed for a few days now, all the kura are closed, supermarkets have officially closed today. The recent update is that it’ll hit on Saturday morning.”
She also reflects on the massive flooding in Brisbane just three years ago, which is said to be one of the nation’s worst recorded flood disasters.
“It’s quite sad because there was floods in 2022, so the city [is] actually still [trying to] recover from that.”
“I wasn’t flooded but I was stranded on my street. [So] in that way, I do know what to expect.”
‘Kia haumaru te noho’
He maha tonu ngā kaihaka o Te Hau Tawhiti i noho mai ki Aotearoa i muri mai i Te Matatini.
“A lot of the kapa are still back home [with whānau], so they’re living it up - I wanna trade places with them.”
Kei te whakariterite hoki te whānau o Uerata kia haumaru ai rātau i ngā whakawhiunga a Tāwhirimātea.
“Going shopping for kai, putting the car under the carport, clearing the lawn.
“The messages [are] quite clear; just to stay safe and reach out to those who need support, even your whānau.”
E matapaetia ana hei te ata o te Rāhoroi, tau atu ai te huripari nei ki te takiwā o Noosa me Coolangatta.
