A pivotal visit by St Vincent de Paul Napier council member Dan Sussmilch helped the organisation develop a multifaceted strategy to offer immediate relief and assist in facilitating the community's long-term rehabilitation.

As part of its community involvement in Wairoa, St Vincent de Paul is helping clean up and restore 25 homes.

With specialised silt crews employed for this essential work, St Vincent de Paul is allocating funds for necessities such as digger fuel, carpentry supplies and building materials, as well as covering the costs of essential plumbing and electrical works.

In addition to the repair and restoration, Vinnies has distributed hampers to 320 families.

Filled with goods purchased from local businesses, who themselves were impacted by the cyclone, the move is designed both to provide essential aid and help rejuvenate the local economy.

Ongoing commitment

St Vincent de Paul's commitment to helping Wairoa recover is ongoing.

The collective effort, particularly the invaluable contribution of volunteers, is pivotal in the management and execution of relief operations.

"The involvement of Vinnie's volunteers embodies the spirit of communal solidarity in overcoming adversity," a St Vincent de Paul member told CathNews.

As the recovery journey progresses, the Napier branch of St Vincent de Paul remains resolute in its mission to deliver critical support, highlighting the effective results of united action.

"Last year St Vincent de Paul Napier also assisted those affected by the devastation caused by Cyclone Gabrielle," said Christine Tong, area president of St Vincent de Paul Napier.

"We were extremely grateful for the Funds Appeal launched throughout New Zealand by our St Vincent de Paul Society's National Office and the wonderful generosity shown during this extremely difficult time", she said.

Lotto millions sit with Internal Affairs

The government Cyclone Gabrielle Appeal Fund received $11.7m from the special Lotto draw in March 2023 and was bolstered by more than $1.7m in public donations - plus interest earned over the past 12 months.

The money sits with the Department of Internal Affairs - unspent.

Those wanting to know where the Lotto draw and public donation funds will go are set to get answers sometime in mid-February.

Sources

• Supplied
• Newstalk ZB

Without the help of young people, St Vincent de Paul Napier would not have been able to respond so positively, reports the Catholic charity in its most recent national newsletter.

While the media focus has moved on, Cyclone Gabrielle's devastation continues and St Vincent de Paul's outreach is ongoing.

"Because it's no longer on the News doesn't mean Cyclone Gabrielle is over," Julie, a Taradale resident, told CathNews.

Initially, the focus was clothing, food, possessions and personal necessities but now, as the community transitions into the recovery phase, the needs also change, reports the Church charity.

Focus change

As the needs change, St Vincent de Paul's response changes to meet those needs.

St Vincent de Paul's primary focus is now on aiding families and children displaced or emotionally affected by the cyclone.

Initially, Catholic schools in the region were reluctant to seek financial assistance from a special cyclone relief fund.

Children's mental health

However, the increasing need for mental health support has become evident.

One school has reported a spike in anxiety levels among its students, highlighting the urgent need for professional counselling services, reports the Church's social outreach.

In its newsletter, the St Vincent de Paul Society notes that at one primary school it supports, students are so traumatised by the cyclone that they never talked.

Encouragingly, the school reports positive changes.

This ongoing mental health assessment has been met with gratitude from the educational community.

Some families continue to be displaced, and others have lost their jobs due to the cyclone's far-reaching impact.

The Society reports that while the need for food parcels has seen a decline, regular support activities such as providing uniforms and stationery continue.

Additional assistance has been extended for after-school care fees, transportation and special events like the Year 9 Big Day Out, which benefited 75 students.

Christian charity with community relationships

Through the Christian charity of its donors and volunteer members, St Vincent de Paul works to provide practical and effective help to those in need and promote human dignity, justice and self-sufficiency.

The Napier branch of St Vincent de Paul says that through its relationship with WHIT (Whatever It Takes), the outreach centre and its own work, the Society continues to deliver in accord with its values of generosity, compassion, empathy, responsiveness, advocacy, respect for people and respect for the environment.

• Source: Supplied

With the Hastings Catholic Parish support, the charity fundraises and supplies local schools with hundreds of bundles of thermals and track pants each winter.

This year the parish have raised more than $26,000 for 1,377 sets of thermals and track pants that will be delivered to 30 schools in the region.

The latest recipients - children from Omahu School - were excited with their warm winter surprises when the visitors popped in with them. It was particularly welcome, perhaps, as some of the children lost their homes and all lost their school during Cyclone Gabrielle.

Lee Pepping and Suzanne Rose from Thermals for Children were also excited when they dropped off several boxes of their snug gifts.

It was exciting for them as it's the first time they have been able to give thermals directly to the students.

"It was so special to see their anticipation and enthusiasm," Pepping said.

It is challenging for the students and their teachers to be working in the hall at another school, she noted.

But "they are making the most of the present situation and we sensed that they are happy even though it is not ideal," she added.

Thanks and gratitude

During the gift hand-out, the children gathered around Pepping and Rose and heard about the Thermals for Children project. They learned about how many schools the charity supports, how much money is needed, what the clothes are like and where they come from.

Once the teachers started taking the clothing out of the boxes, Pepping said the kids seemed very excited that the clothing was all for them.

Most of the children made speeches thanking Pepping and Rose and the people of the Catholic Parish of Hastings.

They said they were grateful to them for gifting them the warm clothing as well as making the effort to bring the clothing to them and for talking to them about the project.

Pepping said the kids were interested in what she and Rose talked about.

"They were very grateful for our gift to them all and seemed very happy that their school is the first school that we have met all of the students and staff."

Each kid spoke beautifully and with confidence and they then sang a beautiful waiata about Omahu School for the two women.

"It was quite emotional to hear the kids and their teachers sing with passion about their school," Pepping said.

"Their smiles gleamed, their eyes sparkled and their sounds of laughter filled our learning space.

"I'm very thankful groups and organisations are thinking of Omahu School, in particular Pepping and her church group," their school principal said.

"People from around Aotearoa/New Zealand, Australia and Israel have kindly given items ranging from handmade quilts to knitted scarfs and hats, cards, letters, books and thousands of dollars."

Pepping and Rose aim to have all the warm winter clothing delivered to participating schools by the end of May.

Source

• NZ Herald

One charity says staff and volunteer wellbeing is extremely important as those on the frontline are often dealing with "people's trauma, anxiety and grief".

Nourished for Nil, which provides food donations across four sites in Napier and Hastings, has been operating for six years and has never been busier.

"We have had a noticeable uptick in the community coming in to get the food that we offer," Nourished for Nil founder Christina McBeth said. Read more

The Red Cross has spent only $5m of its $24m Disaster Fund donations.

The March Lotto fundraiser draw is sitting unused. That's another $11.77m.

People in disaster zones - the supposed beneficiaries - want to know what's happening.

Red Cross

The Red Cross is defending its timeline, saying it's allowing for crucial planning and trials.

Secretary-general Sarah Stuart-Black says the organisation is about to ramp up its donation distribution.

It aims to distribute most of the $24m by August and the remainder by January.

It's been a fine balance between distributing $24m too quickly and getting it wrong, and being criticised for dragging the chain, she says.

For the moment, while 79 cents of every donated dollar remains unspent, it's earning interest of $150k.

Stuart-Black acknowledges some beneficiaries might not realise money they've received has come from the Red Cross.

That's because Red Cross has teamed with others like the Hawke's Bay Regional Trust, which it gave $1m.

Donations have also gone on food parcels, temporary accommodation and the Wairoa Liveable Homes Fund.

So far Red Cross has received 140 applications for grants and approved 32.

It's currently assessing another 70 and hoping to make an announcement on at least 10 others in the next week.

Stuart-Black notes all donated funds and interest will go to affected communities. Red Cross is absorbing the overheads involved in managing the appeal. That is expected to cost about $1m, she says.

Lotto

The Department of Internal Affairs says the $11.77m in lottery profits are for community benefit.

The funds are not available to fix individual homes, to clear silt from businesses or to mend fences on farms.

Clare Toufexis, GM Community Operations, says the special draw was to support the medium- to long-term recovery rather than the immediate relief response.

She didn't say when the money would be distributed. Teams are working with affected communities and other providers, she says.

Meanwhile at ground level ...

One uninsured Wairoa business owner says she lost least $20k worth of equipment and stock.

"That Red Cross money would have been great - we'd be in business right now."

She'd also like the volunteers who stopped their lives to help with cleaning up to benefit.

Another says the lack of immediately-available funds from Red Cross, Lotto and the Government is unacceptable.

He's been working with community groups using funds, volunteers and corporate connections he organised himself.

Bureaucracy and red tape are the problems, he says.

"We'll show you the money when you show us the receipts," farmers and growers are told. It's a Catch-22 situation.

People are hanging out - for help, for next week's Budget and for cash, he says.

Where was Red Cross?

Stuart-Black explains Red Cross' absence during the cleanup.

"We're basically enabling people to clean up rather than paying for the trucks and the diggers that are actually lifting the silt.

"We're supporting the families and the communities through either helping to clean out their homes to make them liveable … or providing the equipment and protective gear that helps them do the cleanup themselves."

"It takes time to think about how they want to recover, and what they need to do that."

Source

• Stuff

Lowe reports that 69 grants have been given to charities and agencies throughout greater Auckland to help families, people and communities in need.

"The outpouring of generosity throughout the country and overseas has been humbling," he says.

"Your gifts have already helped so many begin their recovery from these severe weather events."

Lowe says his Foundation is committed to supporting social services and community groups to reach those in need, especially families.

Mid-February, Lowe offered to expand the range of the Caring Foundation's reach, calling it a national appeal that also covers the damage in the Hamilton and Palmerston North dioceses (ie Coromandel, Gisborne, Napier/Wairoa).

Donations - the stats

Lowe reports many donations helped the Caring Foundation gather tens of thousands of dollars.

They included:

• 1200 donors - individuals, parishes, schools, religious congregations, ethnic communities
• 27 schools - which held fundraising activities

Between them:

• $621,000 was raised: $281,000 for the cyclone appeal; $340,000 for the flood appeal.

Lowe says some money has been sent to foodbanks, parishes and social agencies. Bedding, clothing and furniture have been frequently purchased items, he notes.

He says the donations were also used to help in some schools where the disasters had severely impacted students, helping students pay for school uniforms and stationery.

"Thank you for being a lifeline to our sisters and brothers in these challenging times." Lowe says.

Source

• Caring Foundation

But as individuals face varying degrees of disruption, a collective sense of frustration has built among those in dire need of financial assistance but haven't seen a cent from collections.

Red Cross NZ collected more than $21 million in the aftermath of February's storm when Kiwis rallied together to donate their hard-earned cash to get money to those who were in desperate need of assistance. Read more

In a state common to many small settlements after Cyclone Gabrielle, the small Nuhaka settlement 30 kilometres north of Wairoa lost essential services and its wastewater and sewage systems were compromised.

Palmerston North diocese general manager Liam Greer said Nuhaka approached St Joseph's as they needed somewhere for their pupils to go to school. Would St Joseph's - which already had 80 pupils - be able to double up and help out?

The Ministry of Education wasn't keen to house the pupils in a ‘non-school' facility, so accommodating them in another nearby school was important.

St Joseph's principal Jo Doyle in turn asked Greer if the diocese would agree in principle to the school hosting Nuhaka.

The diocese agreed.

Even making space for the visitors was surprisingly simple.

St Joseph's "had emptied or planned to empty classrooms for a building project which recently got building consent," Greer said.

"Serendipitously, this allowed the immediate accommodation required for the Nuhaka pupils, coupled with using the school hall and library and other rooms as/where required."

Greer described the arrangement as essentially "a school inside a school" - two schools running on one site.

Greer said Wairoa's Catholic school will continue to host Nuhaka for this term "initially", and this will be "reviewed with the Ministry before the commencement of new term".

Greer added Nuhaka School principal Raelene McFarlene told him she was "overwhelmed with the support offered, the powhiri and the way St Josephs has welcomed their community to the campus".

St Joseph's has helped the community recovery in Wairoa in several ways, including allowing its ground to be a temporary helicopter landing pad.

St Peter's Catholic parish in Wairoa is ensuring the "lunch in schools" programme can continue by allowing the use of their hall for this.

Source

• NZ Catholic
• PN Diocese Relief Appeal

Like many places in Wairoa's North Clyde area, St Therese's was swamped.

Silt got into everything and did its worst.

The same happened at the marae next door - and to numerous homes and properties.

Everything may have been under water and silt or swept into the river, but people were wonderfully helpful, Br Denis O'Brien SM (pictured) says.

Memories of the flood's suddenness and speed continue to amaze him.

His voice still sounds startled when he recalls how fast the water rose and the fence in front of the church was picked up and dumped across the road.

A big piece out the front wire gate is still somewhere in the paddock.

The water and silt got found its way into the chapel, even though the doors and windows were shut. It's been swept out now, but the wall cavities are probably holding on to a fair amount of silt.

O'Brien says it'll just have to stay there until the insurance company has decided what to do.

Individuals, families, the Council and businesses pulled together. Willing volunteers O'Brien can't praise enough turned up.

A Mormon family who used to live across the road from the church came back to help clean up St Therese's (locally known as the marae chapel) and the adjacent marae complex.

They came straight away, O'Brien says.

He says there wouldn't usually be so many people around during the working week, but big local employer QRS (the Council-owned Quality Roading and Services) closed its operations and gave staff a chance to look after themselves and others.

Their help was desperately needed.

Over 100 North Clyde families had their homes flooded. Most weren't insured. Many others in the valleys around them weren't either.

Mud surrounds the Easter Candle

Many others came too - the QRS workers and their big machinery, individuals and families worked, cleared, and sorted.

Liam Greer, who is the Palmerston North Catholic diocese General Manager visited.

Just how much it will cost to right any ongoing concerns with the little Catholic chapel and what sort of insurance payout can be expected are questions for the future.

At the time of writing, Greer told CathNews he was waiting for the builder's and insurer's reports.

Until he's seen these, he can't comment, he says.

Washed in silt; organ has seen better days

Meantime, O'Brien says the parish is collecting money, as are various other local organisations. Just how it will be spent isn't clear yet.

It will go where the need is judged greatest; a group, including local taiwhenua and council representatives, will decide how to apportion it, O'Brien says.

The same will apply to funds the diocese raises.

He explains that the diocese is just waiting to be told where and how to distribute it.

O'Brien suggested that the big question is where all the tradies are going to come from to do all the skilled work.

Until various essential skilled jobs are done, families are squashing together.

Source

• Shine TV

A new study by journalist and author Ian Wishart into historic extreme weather events has found however that the vast majority of extreme weather events from our past appear to be missing from NIWA's Historical Weather Events database for researchers and journalists.

Specifically, of 24 major climate events that took place in a 22 year period leading up to 1890, only four have been loaded into the NIWA research database, meaning 83% were missing.

The missing appear to include many storms bigger than Cyclone Gabrielle.

Climate of fear

A NIWA database claiming to document major historic climate events for journalists and researchers has no records of most of New Zealand's biggest historic storms, throwing claims that "extreme climate events" are becoming more common into serious doubt.

As New Zealand mops up in the wake of its most devastating cyclone in 60 years, questions are naturally being asked by insurers, the public and the politico-media establishment about whether "extreme climate" is now already here, as claimed by the Greens and climate scientists.

National's Maureen Pugh found herself in hot water after questionning the "evidence" linking Cyclone Gabrielle to climate change.

In a Masterclass of Media-Gotcha! 101, Newshub's political editor Jenna Lynch quickly lined up Greens co-leader James Shaw, assorted climate scientists and lobbyists and even National's leader Chris Luxon to scornfully force Pugh into a "climate ‘Come to Jesus' moment" where she publically repented of her sin in daring to question the daily media assurances that humanity's greenhouse gas emissions are a major contributor to New Zealand's summer soaking.

The media and politicians rely on briefings and resources from NIWA, including its searchable Historic Weather Events Catalogue that allows quick access to data on "major" storms in the past. Want to know about big storms in Esk Valley? Just punch it in.

Except, and this is the elephant in the climate change room, most of New Zealand's biggest storms between 1868 and 1890 (a random period selected to examine) are not actually in there. And if most of the major events from the 1800s are not there, what about the 1900s?

Why is this critically important?

It's fundamental to "trusting the science" because public and political faith requires science to maintain complete and trustworthy records.

A failure to do a proper data search of historical storm records and upload them means the public, politicians, insurers, banks and even the news media are recieving flawed information that is skewed to accurately record every modern climate event while missing more than 80% of major historical events.

That creates an overwhelming impression that the weather is getting more extreme - an impression that you will shortly see may not only be wrong, but the reverse: in New Zealand, at least, there's evidence that we suffered more so-called 1-in-100 year storms/floods in the 1800s (when CO2 was only around 285ppm) than now (413ppm).

Let that sink in for a moment: there's evidence of a higher frequency of big storms more than a century ago when the planet was colder, with much lower CO2 levels.

If that turns out to be correct, where does that leave the "climate change means more extreme weather" narrative pushed in the nighly news?

To figure this out, we first have to find an agreed measurement for storm intensity.

NIWA's Ben Noll this week published new analysis of our three biggest storms in recent times - Cyclone Giselle in 1968 (the ‘Wahine' storm), Cyclone Bola in 1988 and now Cyclone Gabrielle.

Noll and colleagues ran data from the three storms through a NOAA reanalysis and found that Gabrielle had a deeper "low", at 963 hectopascals (hPa) than Giselle on 968 or Bola at 982 hPa.

Traditionally, cyclones and hurricanes have been measured on wind strength from Categories 1 to 5, but a 2022 study makes the case that the atmospheric depression - or Minimum Sea Level Pressure (MSLP) caused by a storm may be a more accurate measure of its destructive ability because it is a better predictor of rainfall, storm surge and windspeed than measuring windspeed alone.

The reason is that cyclones are more than just wind or rain - their low atmospheric pressure (weight) at sea level in the centre of the storm means the sea level can rise up to 14 metres above high tide.

That means if you were standing on a beach at high tide mark, a hurricane could make the tide rise a further 12 or so metres above your head…enough to flood a four storey building.

Thankfully, that level of surge has been recorded only once, with Cyclone Mahina in Australia in 1899. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 caused an eight metre storm surge that drowned New Orleans.

Most storm surge in NZ is much lower, between one and three metres, because the cyclones have weakened from their peak.

Cyclones are like a giant robotic vacuum cleaner sucking heat out of the oceans through a column at the Eye.

The more energy they can find and spew up the funnel in the middle, the faster and more violent are the winds on the fringes as cold air rushes in to replace the air being sucked up the heat column.

It's this suck up the middle that also causes sea level rise via storm surge in that area.

This storm surge effect is the real reason urban planners are scared about climate change in the short to medium term.

A baseline sea level rise of 30cm or even a metre of tidal rise on a beach over the next century won't break the bank in most cases, but if it's coupled with two or three metres of storm surge every couple of years it could make shopping along the boulevard a tad unpleasant.

Given that most shoreline streets are only a couple of metres above high tide mark, the difference between three metres and 3.3 or even four metres of surge may ultimately be academic.

When the barometer dives, it means the weight of the air on the sea reduces and sea level rises for the duration.

The Ben Noll analysis pegged Gabrielle, with an MSLP of 963 hPa (the Met Service says it was 966.6), as one of New Zealand's biggest ever storms, outranking hall-of-famers like 1988's Bola (982 hPa) and Giselle (968 hPa) twenty years earlier than Bola.

Let me say from the start that there's debate in scientific circles about just how much global warming has played a part in fuelling its intensity.

NIWA has pitched that it could have increased moisture retention in the cyclone - and therefore how much rain would come back down, by 5-10%.

However, other scientists have pointed out that the Tongan eruption last year punched 146 million tonnes of water vapour into the atmosphere, which not only will fuel warming because water vapour is a powerful greenhouse gas - but what goes up generally will come down, and cyclones and weather bombs are one way for Earth to rebalance.

So it isn't really possible for anyone to say that Gabrielle was fuelled by car exhaust fumes.

But how did Gabrielle really compare to some of the big storms that ravaged NZ after British settlement? Continue reading

Executive Summary

• Most of New Zealand's biggest historic storms and cyclones are missing from NIWA's Historic Weather Events Database (DATA GAPS>80%)
• The missing data is crucial for providing answers about whether extreme climate events are becoming more common (FREQUENCY)
• The missing data is crucial for journalists and researchers trying to compare the magnitude of modern climate events with those of the past (INTENSITY)
• Between 1868 and 1890 NZ was being hit yearly on average by storms similar to or more powerful than Cyclone Bola
• Five storms geographically bigger and with deeper barometric lows than Cyclone Gabrielle struck New Zealand between 1868 and 1890, revealing that what we call a 1-in-250yr event was actually closer to a 1-in-4yr event back then
• The late 1800s was a much colder, low-carbon climate, raising fundamental questions about how extreme weather events play out in the real world vs computer modelling. Continue reading

Source

• Ian Wishart - www.investigatemagazine.co.nz Reproduced with permission.
• Download the full report.

At least, that's Brian Tamaki's view.

The self-identified apostle, Destiny Church and Freedoms NZ political party founder says so in a rambling, disinformation-littered diatribe before his church fellowship.

His online sermon, lasting over an hour, draws heavily on the Old Testament's Book of Leviticus.

In it, Tamaki claims Gabrielle "should never have got near us".

"But no, it was swirling, it got strong and He [God] said, 'I'm coming for you, I'm after New Zealand'. Because that's where the most extreme abortion, that's the abomination that's coming up in the air to God. That's the place that has the queerest Parliament in the world."

His oration has been viewed online over 3,300 times.

Describing his research process in forming his opinion, he tells viewers:

"I was suspicious. Don't hate me for this … I see the perversion that is linked to bad weather.

"And I went online. And by the way I don't watch porn."

Nonetheless, Tamaki says he keyed "Porn in New Zealand" into his internet search bar "...and it gave me Pornhub.

"I was shocked by what I found... Hastings and Gisborne, has the highest number of porn watchers in the country and it's one of the biggest averages per capita in the world …

"And they're the biggest watchers on the porn site of gay porn. I know! And I closed it and thought, I can't do this in church, I can't say this publicly."

Despite his concern, he decided:

"I thought, no, God said...you've got it, the revelation, you've got to share it. [Otherwise] they will not see this, they won't connect the dots.

"You'll be mocked, they'll say you're a nutter, but don't worry it gets out and people can see the truth for themselves … Please, stop watching porn, New Zealand. It's getting us in trouble."

How does he know? "I have caught how God feels about it, so I feel how He feels … I transfer His feelings to my feelings, His thoughts to my thoughts."

The mayor of Gisborne, Rehette Stoltz, says Tamaki's comments are "disappointing, unhelpful and laughable".

"We have families struggling after losing their homes and their livelihoods and a much-loved community member lost his life.

"In true Kiwi style, the rest of NZ have mucked in and supported us ...The awhi and aroha have been heartwarming and humbling. We feel loved and nurtured in a very tough time."

Stoltz also notes: "It's worth mentioning that Tairawhiti was without internet access for five days, so Brian's ‘research' might need updating.

"I suggest Brian stop wasting his time ‘researching Pornhub, and instead join the rest of New Zealand who have donated time, energy and money to help us get back on our feet."

Last month Tamaki's Freedoms New Zealand political party successfully registered with the Electoral Commission.

Source

• The Spinoff

But this week, parishioners found silt covering the floor and generations-old pews upturned by floodwaters.

"It took an hour and a half to dig out the front door, and we came into this church not knowing what we'd find," said Linda Paterson, an Esk Valley local who was married at the church's altar.

"We've had six family weddings here."

The community has come to the church's aid, with 40 volunteers attempting to restore the proud sanctuary.

Outside, ruined bibles and hymn books have been dumped, along with the organ Read more

New Zealand already had a housing shortage - so where to accommodate the newly displaced is a huge question. Housing's short. Demand exceeds supply. Rents are brutal. How will they - can they - pay the price?

The scale of the problem

It's thought at least 10,000 people are displaced in Hawke's Bay and Te Tai Rawhiti alone.

In Gisborne for example, Gabrielle left over 170 homes red- or yellow-stickered.

The city already suffers from a chronic shortage of rental accommodation. A Trade Me search finds eight properties available (five with just one-bedroom).

Motels are full. There are over 560 people waitlisted for social housing.

It's a similar story in Hawke's Bay and Wairoa. Officials say it will be a mammoth task to re-home the cyclone displaced people.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said about 800 houses in Auckland and Northland had been evacuated because of the cyclone.

Meantime, people are bunking with friends, family or neighbours. Building inspections are ongoing.

For many, the isolation from main centres will create challenges in repairing houses, bringing in temporary accommodation, and evacuating displaced people.

Damage across the state highway network is severe.

This level of displacement hasn't been experienced in New Zealand since the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes.

Where to find accommodation

Discussions are underway between the Government, charities and iwi to find a solution to the looming housing crisis.

It's expected the Government's Temporary Accommodation Service will step in over the next weeks.

By then, access to Hawke's Bay and the East Coast may have improved and the Civil Defence response will have become more focused on recovery rather than emergency response.

Finding rental accommodation is a giant problem. Paying for it is another.

Trade Me's Gavin Lloyd says the latest rental prices show a $25 jump per week.

The jump "will be unpleasant news for renters around the country," Lloyd says.

Lloyd says time will tell how the market will be impacted by the Auckland floods and Cyclone Gabrielle.

"What we do know is that January marked the second month in a row where the median weekly rent in Auckland, Hawke's Bay and Northland reached a record high."

He expects supply will fall significantly and in turn put more stress on tenants in the affected regions.

Source

• Stuff
• 1News
• RNZ
• 1News

It told CathNews that Caritas' focus was not New Zealand, but on helping fund development and emergency relief work worldwide.

However, Caritas' comments seems to run counter to the information the charity provides on its website.

Catholic Caring Foundation Appeal

Caritas' non-involvement in the post-cyclone relief effort also runs contrary to some Catholics' expectations, who told CathNews they thought at least some money raised through the Bishops' Lent Appeal would be going to the relief effort.

Caritas sent the following statement.

"Caritas joins with the Church and all people of goodwill in Aotearoa in prayer and solidarity with all those affected by Cyclone Gabrielle and other recent extreme weather events in our country.

"As soon as we heard about the flood, Caritas, the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference and affected dioceses discussed the best approach and agency to run a focused, streamlined appeal to most effectively receive and distribute funds.

"The Catholic Caring Foundation of Auckland was already up and running with an appeal for the Auckland rain of 27 January; and Bishop Steve offered to expand it to cover the damage in the Hamilton and Palmerston North dioceses (ie Coromandel, Gisborne, Napier/Wairoa).

On Monday the Bishop of Auckland, Steve Lowe, launched his Catholic Caring Foundation appeal, saying that neither Hamilton nor Palmerston North has the necessary infrastructure to host a national appeal.

He noted that both dioceses are currently without a bishop.

"We have reached out to them to offer our support."

And, "After receiving their approval, I have asked my Caring Foundation to accept donations for families and individuals who have suffered unimaginable damage in the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle".

Catholics that CathNews spoke with were puzzled because also on Monday, the Diocese of Palmerston North launched its own separate appeal.

About the Catholic Caring Foundation

As Bishop of Auckland, Denis Browne established the Catholic Caring Foundation back in December 1998.

The Foundation's purpose is to support emergency services in the event of local disaster and to promote the funding and assistance of the charitable activities of the Catholic Church of Auckland.

The Foundation's rules cite it will work with other charitable organisations within the Diocese of Auckland.

They also provide for the Caring Foundation to "co-operate with the charitable activities of other dioceses of the Catholic Church, particularly those located in the South Pacific region".

The Foundation's rules give it ample scope to be generous in meeting a very wide range of needs, and even give it the authority to raise a loan to meet the needs, should the Bishop of Auckland agree.

However, while in terms of need, the rules specifically say the Foundation will not discriminate in regard to class, colour, sex or creed, the rules seem only to provide for cooperation with the charitable activities of other Christian churches in the Auckland diocese.

The distribution of resources is undertaken under the governance of the Foundation's Board comprising the Bishop of Auckland, a priest from the Auckland diocese, the Auckland diocese Co-ordinator of Caring and a minimum of five other people appointed by the bishop of Auckland.

Where to give?

It is Caritas' recommendation that "New Zealanders who wish to give locally give through Catholic Caring Foundation Donate - The Catholic Caring Foundation".

Source

• Supplied - Caritas Aotearoa NZ and NZCBC
• Caritas
• Charities Commission last accessed, 23 February, 2023

"If people don't have medicines, some people will die, that's the fact of it ... Pharmacists just have to find a way to make it work," Susie Farquhar​, owner and pharmacist at Napier's Unichem Pharmacy Greenmeadows, said.

So they did. Read more

A significant portion of the area on the east coast of the North Island is in the Palmerston North diocese, and in the absence of a bishop, Butler is administering the Palmerston North diocese.

"People's suffering is very real and they need our help."

"As a diocese we have a responsibility to show we care," says Butler.

He says Pope Francis' call to remember those who suffer and for our charity to be concrete, 'very in touch.'

"Brothers and sisters, let us not forget those who suffer and let our charity be attentive, let it be a concrete charity!" said Francis in his recent Angelus message.

As part of the outreach, Butler invites people to contribute to a Cyclone Relief Appeal to help those in desperate need.

Also on Friday, St John's College, Hastings notified the diocese that on Monday it would be opening as a community centre to provide food and showers to their students, family and community.

Ironically in one of the nation's food-producing centres, there is a food shortage and the College reached out for urgent assistance from diocese.

Over the weekend the diocese had a small team working on a practical response including food, drinking water, washing powder, women toiletries, toilet paper, soap, shampoo, torches, batteries, rubbish bags, Janola.

On Monday Butler and General Manager for the diocese, Liam Greer confirmed three commercial vehicles and trailers loaded with provisions were delivered to the College.

Acknowledging the effort as a starting point in the long journey, Butler and Greer are delighted with the response; labelling people's generousity as "outstanding".

Greer clarified there are a number of plans in place in the Diocese to provide ongoing support to the wider Hawkes Bay area, but it is currently responding to an immediate need from a community that is within reach.

As well as helping to meet food shortage, Greer said key diocesan staff headed to Hawkes Bay to support schools and staff. The staff include trained social workers and staff to help process insurance claims.

Greer confirmed that St Joseph's school Wairoa is being used as a helicopter air pad and that while the school remained unharmed, it will be closed until otherwise cleared by Civil Defence.

Source

• Supplied

Renewing his appeal for Turkey and Syria earthquake victims, Francis also turned his attention to New Zealand.

"I am close to the people of New Zealand, who have been hit in recent days by a devastating cyclone.

"Brothers and sisters, let us not forget those who suffer and let our charity be attentive, let it be a concrete charity!"

He made the comments during his Angelus message at the Vatican on Sunday.

Francis' proximity to the people of New Zealand was followed up in a news story in Vatican News.

Grateful to hear of Pope Francis' closeness, the Catholic parish of Napier Parish Priest, Fr Barry Scannell SM acknowledges the devastation and serious impact on the lives of many.

Scannell told CathNews that understandably while numbers at Sunday Mass were down this week, those who were able to attend were very mindful of the loss of life, those missing and the suffering of many.

"Cyclone Gabrielle will put a huge strain on the community and take a long time to recover," he told CathNews.

He said he was grateful for his trusty old transistor radio, but it was not until he could see the pictures and get back into the community to visit people, that Cyclone Gabrielle's devastation became very real.

Scannell said that washed-out bridges and roads in and out of Napier, and initially no electricity, mobile phone or internet communication, isolated people from family and elsewhere in the country and around the world.

He said the isolation proved challenging both for those in Napier and loved ones elsewhere and while most now have phone connectivity, not everyone has such a basic need as electricity.

Scannell says generally everyone is pitching in, everyone is helping each other.

Further up the east coast, Wairoa Parish Priest Rob Devlin SM says senior priest Pa Karaitiana Kingi SM needed help to evacuate his home.

The parish priest says he is being well cared for, but Kingi's home is now ‘red stickered', and his car is full of silt.

Devlin told CathNews that the devastation seriously impacted the low-lying areas of the town; around twenty per cent of the town, including the Tawhiti-a-Mau Marae, which is about a metre deep in water and mud.

St Therese Church at the marae also has significant water damage.

CathNews was unable to speak to anyone from the parish of Hastings.

Cyclone Gabrielle

Head of MetService New Zealand Weather Communications Lisa Murray gave a summary of the storm in a statement on 19 February.

Between 12 and 14 February, parts of New Zealand recorded rainfall amounts of 300-400mm, wind gusts of 130-140km/h and waves as high as 11 metres along some coasts.

"Gabrielle is one of the worst storms to hit Aotearoa New Zealand in living history" said Murray.

The death toll from Cyclone Gabrielle has risen to 11 but police have indicated the toll accounts only for the bodies that have been identified.

More than 6000 people had been reported as non-contactable; however, this contained many double-ups said Eastern District police commander Jeanette Park.

On Monday, the New Zealand Government extended the national state of emergency by 7 days and established a cyclone recovery task force.

The task force's head is Sir Brian Roche and Minister of Finance, Grant Robertson, is the new Cyclone Recovery Minister.

Sources

• Supplied
• Vatican News
• Supplied
• Floodlist
• Stuff

The Hawke's Bay had been hammered by the weather throughout the week, with suburbs submerged, and power and communications knocked out after the Redclyffe substation at Taradale was flooded and suffered extensive damage.

Napier was effectively isolated for days as State Highways connecting it with Hastings and Taupo were closed. Read more