Latest news#
Funding approved for flood resilience work in Tairāwhiti#
The Government has approved $15 million to raise about 200 homes at risk of future flooding. Half of this is expected to be spent in the Tairāwhiti settlement of Te Karaka, lifting about 100 homes there.
The $15 million announced is from the $100 million funding announced as part of Budget 2023. This fund was specifically set aside for practical flood protection infrastructure like stopbanks as well as other local measures that can protect communities from flooding.
Along with the approximately 100 homes in Te Karaka, the funding also provides for a further 100 homes across the Tairāwhiti to be lifted, as determined by the Gisborne District Council.
A further $1.2 million has been allocated to Gisborne District Council to purchase and install enhanced flood monitoring equipment. This will support more accurate forecasting to provide residents with timely alerts and enable more effective disaster response and management.
Further business support for cyclone-affected regions#
The Government announced a $10 million package targeting nine projects to support economic recovery in Hawke’s Bay, Tairāwhiti and Northland by helping businesses recover from Cyclone Gabrielle and attracting more people back into these regions.
The package includes regional tourism recovery programmes, infrastructure resilience, and training and accommodation support to rebuild workforces.
Funding for the projects comes from the final allocation of the $75 million interim recovery package established earlier this year to provide support for businesses impacted by the North Island weather events.
Boost for Hawke’s Bay cyclone waste clean-up#
The Government has announced a further $2.1 million from the Government’s Waste Minimisation Fund (Te Pūtea Whakamauru Para) to boost the Hawke’s Bay’s waste-processing.
The grants are on top of $988,300 announced in May for Hawke’s Bay.
Government invests further in Central Hawke’s Bay resilience#
The Government has confirmed $2.5 million to fund a replace and upgrade a stopbank to protect the Waipawa Drinking Water Treatment Plant.
As a result of Cyclone Gabrielle, the original stopbank protecting the Waipawa Drinking Water Treatment Plant was destroyed. The plant was operational within 6 weeks of the cyclone, but subsequent minor rain events since February have resulted in the plant being flooded.
The funding comes from money set aside in Budget 2023 for flood protection and mitigation measures that could be undertaken in a short time frame.
Red Cross New Zealand Disaster Fund update#
The Red Cross has now committed over $22 million of the New Zealand Disaster Fund to help communities affected by Cyclone Gabrielle and the other severe weather events this year.
Red Cross is assisting in several ways including contributing $5 million in funds to help local authorities provide hardship grants for affected individuals and families. These grants have reached thousands of people with much-needed support to cope with the unexpected costs of getting through after a disaster.
Community organisations have received support from Red Cross — like Heretaunga Women's Centre in Hawke’s Bay who are using a $53,000 grant from the Fund to help women struggling after the cyclone access counselling.
Red Cross Home Bundles programme is also underway for those most in need, providing furniture and household basics as families resettle in their homes this spring.
New landslide mapping and modelling approaches developed by GNS Science#
To identify and map the large number of landslides triggered by Cyclone Gabrielle, GNS Science has developed new mapping and modelling approaches to provide stakeholders with landslide intensity information in a timely manner and at a sufficient level of spatial and positional accuracy to be useful.
The project is one of the largest international landslide datasets directly related to a single storm event. This new dataset enables landslide occurrence to be linked to the rain that triggered them.
Once the landslide impact models are retrained on this new dataset, they will be used to forecast the potential impacts more accurately for potential future landslide-triggering events.
The mapping work continues with the aim of completion toward the end of the year and public publication when it is available. For anyone who would like access to the data now, please email [email protected].
Updates across government#
Waka Kotahi#
- SH25A Taparahi Bridge remains on target with fabrication of the girders complete and 5 out of the 15 coated. Piling work at Pier C continues. Abutment formwork and reinforcing cages work has commenced.
- SH1 Mangamuka Gorge. Works continuing at pace with the maximum amount of resource. Expected opening date is trending towards quarter 3 2024.