Ben Green: Gisborne Civil Defence and Emergency Management Group Manager on the aftermath of this week's severe weather

A Gisborne Civil Defence manager says they're now dealing with the clean up from this week's severe weather.  

States of emergency in the Wairoa District and Hastings Heretaunga Ward remain in place. 

Roads were closed and people evacuated after heavy rain lashed the Hawke's Bay and Gisborne regions yesterday.  

Wairoa District Council says 400 properties have been impacted, more than 100 significantly.  

Gisborne Civil Defence and Emergency Management Group Manager Ben Green told Mike Hosking that wind was the major issue.  

He says the challenge with that was power lines and a significant number of trees down across roads. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
But let's see where we're at with the state of emergency.
As of last night, at least fifteen hundred properties didn't
have power still on the East coast. Of course, Ben
Green Civil Events Emergency Management Group manager in Gisbon is
where there's been morning to you. Are you going to
read from around the region or you justin Gisbon.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Just well, we cover the whole region. It's been a
see surprising, you know, as pretty wild what spell whether
we had come in the other night, I mean, as
the wind really was probably the really real thing that
typified the difference between the other events. But yesterday, you know,

(00:39):
we did have the river levels that credit the evacuations
and a couple of the catchments. But surprisingly, you know,
we haven't got the physical damage that we've probably thought
it'd be dealing with or coming through East good but certainly,
you know, the challenge we with the wind is obviously
the power lines and just a signif got a number

(01:00):
of trees down across the roads and networks.

Speaker 1 (01:03):
So basically what you're dealing with, you're dealing with a
clean up today now.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yes, and you know we had obviously just before this event,
the weather of the weekend and the city and we
need to get to the city in some of the greast strife.
That's seven percent of our population is in one area.
So the sewer and the wastewater system was already fully
charged before we went into the let's be with event,

(01:32):
and that's really weird. You have surd issues backing up
and some areas of schools can operate and it just
needs time, simple whether to help that sort of relieve
the pressure from the wastewater in that serio system.

Speaker 1 (01:46):
Okay, forecast they're saying some showers that the weather's largely through.
Is that fair or not?

Speaker 2 (01:52):
Yeah, we were back. I would like to think some
of the great normal winter weather our rivers and you
can see some of our cameras there. It's just the
volume is its intensity of the short time frames, and
it's really we start seeing things start falling apart quite quickly.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
Exactly. All right, Ben, I'm glad to have caught up
with you. Appreciate it very much. Being Green for more
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