Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, along with the councils for Napier, Hastings, and Central Hawke’s Bay, declared a local state of emergency on Saturday at 11:56am as Cyclone Vaianu approached coastal areas.
However, Craig Little, the mayor of Wairoa, said he was invited to join the declaration but chose not to take part.
Little described the emergency declaration as “woke”, saying there was “a lot of panicking going on” over what he felt was a relatively minor situation.
“We’re becoming woke as a country when it comes to states of emergency,” he said.
“We didn’t need a state of emergency. When you make a call like that, it means you are under the pump.”
“Our Civil Defence team, led by controller Juanita Savage, monitored the weather situation and potential impacts, and based on the information provided, conditions and forecasts did not meet the required criteria to activate.”
“Forecasts had Cyclone Vaianu as a category 2 event, and locally it was expected to be more about wind and ocean swell than rainfall.”
The region’s other mayors, along with the chair of the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, said the decision to act early, based on the best information available at the time, was the responsible course of action.
HBRC chairwoman Sophie Siers said that while some people may question how strong the response to Cyclone Vaianu was, she was grateful to those who followed advice such as evacuating when asked, staying off the roads and away from coastal areas, and taking steps to secure their homes.
“When people take those steps, it means our first responders aren’t being put in harm’s way carrying out rescues in the dark and in dangerous conditions, and they can focus on delivering support where it’s most needed,” Siers said.
“We are operating in a changing climate, and we have to strike the right balance, giving early warnings without jumping at every drop of rain.”
“I’m incredibly proud of our civil defence teams and our communities for ensuring that, if the cyclone had taken its worst path, our region was ready.”
Meanwhile, Wendy Schollum said they couldn’t afford to take risks when it came to people’s lives and safety, adding that waiting until conditions turned severe would often be too late.
CHB Mayor Will Foley said that every time an event like this happens, the council takes the opportunity to learn from what happened before.
“Everyone responded in good time, and yes, we have learned lessons from Gabrielle,” Foley said.
“We respond to the information given to us by weather forecasts and flood modelling.”
Napier Mayor Richard McGrath said the information they received suggested the situation could become serious, so they chose to get messages out early to keep people informed and prepared.
In a later statement, Craig Little said Wairoa and, in particular, Mahia, Mahanga, and Morere had experienced some impacts, with more than 1,000 properties left without power and numerous trees brought down across roads.
He said the team remained vigilant over the weekend, stayed connected with communities across the district, and was prepared to respond as needed. The community was urged to take lessons from Cyclone Vaianu and to remain prepared for any future events that could affect the region.