Recovery from flood continues
Repairs ongoing as town reflects on first anniversary
Today marks the oneyear anniversary of the Edgecumbe flood that caused devastation to a town that had already experienced its fair share of natural disasters.
A service will be held today, hosted by the town’s five churches. Tomorrow there will be a gathering to acknowledge the April 6 anniversary, and Whakatane Mayor Tony Bonne has urged all floodimpacted residents to attend.
Bonne said council-elected members felt a sense of relief from people who had been able to return to their Edgecumbe homes and appreciated the frustration of those still working through repairs.
“We recognise the difficulties the directly affected residents and homeowners have faced; and the impact on Edgecumbe businesses and the wider community caused by so many people being relocated during the rebuild process,” he said.
“As of yesterday, 70 per cent of the 305 homes damaged by the storm and flood events have been repaired. That means families and individuals have been able to ‘go home’ to 212 properties.
“That also means another 93 homes have still to be reoccupied. Of those, 78 properties have building under way and are at various stages of the repair, rebuild or sale process.”
Helping the remaining home-owners move forward was top priority for the council-led recovery team.
Whakatane District Council recovery manager Barbara Dempsey described the past 12 months as extraordinary.
“I would like to recognise the hundreds of people who have contributed to the recovery process,” Dempsey said.
The recovery team had played an active role in efforts to rebuild Edgecumbe.
The Recovery Navigator Service was introduced to help residents access a wide range of services to support their stage of recovery, had contacted 323 residents and was providing support for about 55 individuals and families.
Te Tari Awhina — the community hub established at Edgecumbe — had served as a base for central government agencies, NAVA, the Liveable Homes Project, Te Tohu o te Ora o Ngati Awa health services, visits by the Residential Advisory Service and Re- covery Navigator Service.
“The dedicated band of Edgecumbe Library volunteers have assisted recovery staff. Since late October, over 170 Welcome Home Packs have been distributed via Te Tari Awhina,” Dempsey said.
Bay of Plenty Regional Council had also completed a significant amount of work as a result of the stopbank breach. In addition to the highpriority Edgecumbe and College Rd stopbank works, the regional council identified 520 other locations in the region requiring repairs.
Those repairs are expected to take years to get through and have been prioritised based on risk to lives and livelihoods, disruptions and lifelines.
Contractors had been busy, with almost 100 highpriority repairs completed or under way. The repair bill would be in excess of $45 million, a cost shared by central government, council and insurance claims. An Edgecumbe Community Plan continued to develop under the guidance of its oversight committee and strategic co-ordinator Vicky Richards. Feedback from community representatives was used to prioritise ideas that came from a community workshop last September.
“The oversight committee is made up of representatives from 10 groups and organisations from Edgecumbe who are helping to shape the plan,” Richards said.
“We’ve met four times over the past couple of months and confirmed the key goals for Edgecumbe, the next step will be coming up with a draft plan.”