Cyclone Gabrielle and Recent Floods

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Hi everyone,

This is just a short message reaching out as the recent floods and Cyclone Gabrielle have impacted the Auckland region and many other parts of New Zealand over the last several days.

You may have heard that Parliament confirmed a National State of Emergency yesterday afternoon due to the severe impact that the Cyclone has had across our country, particularly in places like Northland, Whangarei, Hawkes' Bay, Waitākere and our rural communities. 

My Auckland and Wellington offices are currently functioning so please email me on [email protected], call us on either 09 520 0538 or 04 817 6636 if you need any assistance. We are here to help. 

Below is some key information that may be helpful for you, your business or loved ones as we look ahead to recovering from this serious weather event. 

National Emergency Management Civil Defence information: https://www.civildefence.govt.nz/  

NZ Post Updates: Domestic Delivery Updates

Auckland Transport updates: at.govt.nz/weatherwatch

Auckland Civil Defence locations: https://www.aucklandemergencymanagement.org.nz/flood-event-2023/civil-defence-centres-community-hubs-and-shelter-sites 

IRD Weather Impact information: https://www.ird.govt.nz/updates/news-folder/emergency-event---heavy-rain-and-flooding-in-the-upper-north-island

Citizens Advice Bureau information: https://www.cab.org.nz/article/KB00043155  

MSD|Work and Income Cyclone support: https://www.workandincome.govt.nz/eligibility/emergencies/cyclone-gabrielle.html  

Westpac Flood relief Support: https://www.westpac.co.nz/about-us/upper-north-island-flooding/  

ANZ Flood relief support: https://www.anz.co.nz/content/anzconz/nz/en/comms/severe-weather-events.html

ASB Severe weather information: https://www.asb.co.nz/page/flood-relief-support.html

Chorus outages: https://www.chorus.co.nz/outages

Vodafone|OneNZ outages: https://www.vodafone.co.nz/help/network-status/  

2degrees outages: https://www.2degrees.nz/network-status

Spark outages: https://www.spark.co.nz/help/internet/manage/get-support-during-cyclone-gabrielle/  

Vector outages: https://www.vector.co.nz/personal/outages/storm-event  

Transpower outages: https://www.transpower.co.nz/hawkes-bay-and-napier-power-outage  

Stuff live updates: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/weather-news/300807300/cyclone-gabrielle-live-updates-deaths-destruction-and-evacuations-as-force-of-storm-continues  

NZ Herald live updates: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/ravages-of-cyclone-gabrielle-laid-bare-devastating-floods-slips-power-outages-and-dramatic-roof-top-rescues/  

Newshub live updates: https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2023/02/weather-cyclone-gabrielle-live-updates-wednesday-february-15.html

OneNews live updates: https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/02/15/live-concerns-for-wairoa-food-water-supplies-as-town-cut-off/

RNZ live updates: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/484244/live-cyclone-gabrielle-updates-trail-of-destruction-thousands-evacuated  

MPI Cyclone Advice for farmers and rural communities: https://www.mpi.govt.nz/funding-rural-support/adverse-events/dealing-with-floods/

Watercare Updates: https://www.watercare.co.nz/About-us/News-media/Cyclone-Gabrielle-Water-and-wastewater-updates

EQC Disaster claim information: https://www.eqc.govt.nz/insurance-and-claims/make-or-manage-an-eqc-claim/

Airnz Travel Alerts: https://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/travel-alerts 

Jetstar Travel Alerts: https://www.jetstar.com/nz/en/travel-alerts#Tropical%20Cyclone%20Gabrielle%20in%20New%20Zealand%C2%A0 

Auckland Airport updates: https://www.aucklandairport.co.nz/cyclonegabrielleadvicefortravellers 

Vision West Support information: https://visionwest.org.nz/auckland-flood-support-information/

Donation support information:

Red Cross New Zealand: https://www.redcross.org.nz/about-us/what-we-do/in-new-zealand/auckland-floods-our-response/ 

St John: https://www.stjohn.org.nz/Support-us/How-I-Can-Help/

Auckland City Mission: https://www.aucklandcitymission.org.nz/auckland-flood-response/

Volunteering Auckland: https://volunteeringauckland.org.nz/news/auckland-flood-2023-need-help-want-to-help 

National helplines:

Need to talk? Free call or text 1737 any time for support from a trained counsellor.

Lifeline – 0800 543 354 (0800 LIFELINE) or free text 4357 (HELP).

Youthline – 0800 376 633, free text 234 or email [email protected] or online chat.

Samaritans – 0800 726 666

Suicide Crisis Helpline – 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO).

Healthline – 0800 611 116

I am also receiving daily updates on affected supermarket locations and other important community services so feel free to email or call if you need help. 

In closing I want to thank all those amazing emergency services personnel, firefighters, search and rescue operators, paramedics and volunteers helping our communities throughout the storm. You are making so much difference during a tragic and harrowing time for so many.

My colleague Gerry Brownlee, National Party Spokesperson for Emergency Management, had this to say in the House yesterday on behalf of the National Party:

We would like to extend our concern and our best wishes—which seems a little trite, but none the less—for those who are so badly affected by the floodwaters, by the slips, and by the other consequences of the natural disaster. We also offer our heartfelt thanks to the local and national emergency management personnel and the many volunteers who are out there, going about their job to help.

We also want to extend to those first responders, who do take on those extra risks, our great admiration and thanks. For those local communities who have battled away for so long with their local states of emergency, this national state of emergency should be seen as an affirmation of the work that they are doing and the scale of the disaster that they are trying to mitigate.

Stay safe and let's get through this!