The harrowing scenes of floods, slips, downed power lines, trapped families and disconnected communications infrastructure across the North Island that have seen lives lost and communities shattered are a melancholy start for 2023.
The clean-up just in Auckland and Northland alone will be immense with countless families losing much of their livelihoods and cherished memories amidst the natural disaster that bore down on New Zealand just a few days ago.
My thoughts go out to everyone who has been affected, whether here in Auckland where many communities out west in Waitakere remain severely cut off from the rest of our region and also those with friends and loved ones in communities like Coromandel, Hawkes Bay and the Tararua where incredible damage has taken place. The loss of life of two emergency service personnel, firefighters Dave van Zwanenberg and Craig Stevens, working to help people on the West Auckland Coast, was heart-breaking. Their service to others that led to sacrifice will be remembered.
The clean-up effort here in Auckland alone is a massive task. While I was out supporting our Emergency Shelters and Civil Defence Centres during the storm it was clear many people here in our city felt vulnerable and concerned that their homes could be next to be struck. My thanks go out to everyone who volunteered to support our community throughout the cyclone even when their own homes and businesses were in danger. The teams at ARK Collective, the Fickling Convention Centre and Mt Albert Senior Citizens Hall did an amazing job offering kindness and compassion to those struggling through the storm and its aftermath.
The rebuild may be bigger than that New Zealand endured in the aftermath of the 2011 Canterbury earthquakes and the effects of this disaster won’t be fully known for some weeks or months to come. Napier, Wairoa, Hastings, Taradale, Esk Valley, South Head, Gisborne, Karekare, Muriwai, Taupaki, Huia and Tairua are just some of our many communities across the nation that will need significant new infrastructure. Here in central Auckland we saw uprooted trees, flooding, burst pipes and damaged properties in suburbs like Grey Lynn, Mt Albert, Morningside, Parnell and Mt Eden. If you have had damage and need help from my parliamentary team, please reach out on MPLee@parliament.govt.nz or at 09 520 0538.
If you have not done so already, please make sure you and your household have prepared a civil defence box so that you can get through should we ever face something as terrible as this again. You can find planning tools here and supermarkets and big box stores have start kits to help: getready.govt.nz/en/prepared/
The next few weeks will be a recovery effort, to get connectivity back to all, to make plans to rebuild and to restore and to take time to reflect on what has happened. New Zealand is now going to have to strengthen our infrastructure and resolve to regard more serious and severe weather events adapting to a changing world. This will be a complex conversation and our Parliament and National are ready to address it in the coming weeks as we look ahead to the rest of the year and beyond.
Despite the tragedy and the long road ahead, it is important we remain optimistic for the future of our country. Even in the darkest times, New Zealand with our no.8 wire spirit of innovation and opportunity is able to rise up and stand tall. In Korea, the country of my birth, there is a proverb that comes to mind. It reminds us to not give up and to look to brighter days ahead.
Gonan Kkeut-e hengbok-i onda |
At the end of hardship comes happiness.
Keep safe and let’s hope for a brighter month in March. (MELISSA LEE MP)
National Member of Parliament. National Spokesperson for Broadcasting & Media| Digital Economy and Communications | Ethnic Communities
E: mplee@parliament.govt.nz Authorised by Melissa Lee, Parliament Buildings, Wellington