Wairoa flooding: Locals can't afford $40 million clean-up bill - mayor

Piles of rubbish line the streets after hundreds of Wairoa properties were flooded last week. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

The damage to Wairoa from last week's devastating flooding could top $40 million, which the town cannot afford, the mayor says.

Some 500 properties in the town were flooded when heavy rain hit parts of the East Coast last week.

A state of emergency remains in place.

Mayor Craig Little said a mountain of sodden carpet and destroyed belongings was now lining the streets.

"Oh, people's possessions, now just wet sodden heaps out in front of their homes - all their furniture and everything, beds, carpets, linos, underfloor insulation, the gib inside, it's just relentless, really."

The town's landfill was already at capacity after Cyclone Gabrielle and there was a huge cost to take the rubbish to other tips, he said.

Ratepayers were already facing a 20 percent rate increase.

Little said there was no way the community could foot the bill for the clean-up and he would be asking the government for help.

Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery Mark Mitchell had already announced the government would contribute $300,000 to the Mayoral Relief Funds to help communities in Hastings, Wairoa and Tai Rāwhiti.

He would be going to appeal to Cabinet this week for extra funding to support the town's clean-up and recovery.

Meanwhile, the head of a Wairoa iwi trust said the town's housing needs were greater than ever.

Tatau Tatau o te Wai-roa chief executive Lewis Ratapu said 160 whānau were still in temporary housing after Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023, and the town's top priority was warm, dry homes.

"The one thing that happens when the rain clouds disappear in the middle of winter is that it becomes really cold, so people are ... trying to get back into their homes, which are really wet, so it's not a good formula for wellbeing."

Despite the recurring weather events, Wairoa was a "place that just really gets on and does it", he said.

"People just get really busy trying to help; sometimes there's not a lot of time to ... reflect."

Agencies and iwi were starting to see the beginning of mental health distress in residents, he said.

"People generally haven't gotten over the last lot of rain we had with Cyclone Gabrielle, so it is bringing back a lot of memories and trauma from that night.

"It's hard when you're throwing out things you've had in your family for years - the clothes, the shoes have all gone because they've been washed away.

"So ... there's moments of despair, particularly when you're throwing out things that have a lot of value to you."

More than 200 homes were still not able to be entered due to flood damage or because they were waiting to be assessed, he said.

"There are still a lot of people who are either staying with family, staying on the marae, in the hall, and some that we've managed to put in the Mahia motor camp... which we purchased a few months ago."

Accommodation shortages were exacerbated by having to house temporary workers involved in cyclone recovery and repair projects who were from out of town, he said.

"We've got a huge housing and accommodation issue that we really need to get on top of. We had that before [but] it's been compounded by the cyclone and flooding events."

Napier MP Katie Nimon earlier said the government was working with insurers and the local council to understand the best way to assist people.

"It's really important for us to see what's going to be covered by insurance, what's not.

"Ministers are working really hard to take a paper to Cabinet to get what we can to get the clean-up started, so council knows what can be done without having to worry about where it falls," she said.

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