Emergency services in town power after cyclone: ‘It was
‘Scary challenge’ for lone organiser of response in town cut off by flooding.
WHEN Cyclone Gabrielle tore through Tairā whiti, a collapsed bridge on one side of Whatatutu and a heavily flooded bridge on the other meant that Sally Cale was the only emergency service personnel in the 300-person settlement.
Acting in her roles as volunteer senior firefighter, emergency medical technician for St John Ambulance and Civil Defence coordinator all at once, Cale was left to fend for the town alone.
‘‘It was really scary realising that I was it. It was just me,’’ she says.
‘‘The rest of my crew were trapped on the other side of the Te Kowhai Bridge, and the other member of the crew – my husband – was trapped in Gisborne.’’
At 1.30am on February 14, Cale got a call from a neighbour saying that rising floodwater was coming into his house.
‘‘From there, everything went nuts until first light,’’ she said.
With no power, internet or cell service, her Civil Defence radio – usually kept in her laundry room – became Whatatutu’s only way of communicating with the outside world.
With the ‘‘incredible’’ help of a group of wā hine from Te Wainui Marae who volunteered to take care of food and the welfare needs of the town, Cale was able to focus on those who needed her most.
‘‘I explained to them that we were it, we were on our own. My main priority was then getting power to those in need, such as those on dialysis.’’
She arranged for one person to be medically evacuated out of Whatatutu, whilst the community provided the others with generators.
‘‘It was just amazing how the community came forward. It was a real team effort.’’
In the days that followed, Cale set up daily 9am meetings for Whatatutu, where she was able to pass on any information she could get about what was happening around the region.
Meanwhile, 65km south of Whatatutu, Sally’s husband, Kevin Cale, was on shift as a St John Ambulance emergency
‘It was just amazing how the community came forward. It was a real team effort.’ SALLY CALE
medical technician in Gisborne.
‘‘When I left the station on a call at 11pm, the water was still in the river. When we came back at midnight, the station was knee-deep with water. It was that quick,’’ he said.
The water trapped three ambulances, which have since been written off, and rendered the St John station unusable.
‘‘We lifted everything as high as we could and got out of there.’’
For the next 72 hours, St John
Ambulance operated out of the Gisborne’s fire station.
The main issue for Kevin, however, was that without power or signal, there was no way for anyone to call for an ambulance.
‘‘We had to resort to what we call a ‘running call’, which is where someone literally walks into a police station, fire station or St John’s station to ask for help.’’
Unable to get home due to flooding, Kevin stayed with his daughter in Gisborne for the night.
After 36 hours, he was able to get home to Sally in his 4x4 through roads that were technically closed.
‘‘I’d been told what had happened out at Whatatutu, but the drive home was staggering. I’d never seen the village like that.
‘‘I wasn’t worried about
Sally – she’s a smart woman, she makes good decisions – but she was in the back of my mind the whole time.’’
When he pulled into the driveway, Sally burst into tears.
‘‘We just hugged each other until she’d stopped crying.
‘‘And then we got on with it, doing whatever needed to be done next.’’