Northland shifts form recovery to readiness as Cyclone Vaianu approaches

Madleine CarrWhite, Massey Journalism Student

Northland communities are again bracing for the arrival of wild weather, only a couple of weeks after heavy rain and wind devastated parts of the region.

Cyclone Vaianu is set to touchdown in Northland this weekend, with authorities across the North Island preparing to withstand the potentially life-threatening storm.

Residents, businesses and growers across parts of Northland are now preparing for the Cyclone and what it might mean for their homes and livelihoods.

The organising efforts of Northland's west coast

The Hokianga area - located on Northland's west coast - was hit particularly hard by heavy rain and wind that struck the region in late March.

Whirinaki Trust chair Ruth Tautari has been organising the recovery effort for her community, told RNZ a number of evacuation centres were being stood up around Hokianga.

"We've just been going around Whirinaki, just giving everyone an update on the storm itself... just making sure that they are prepared, whether they have water in their tanks, making sure they've got the essentials they need to keep them going in the event that we get cut off for a couple of days with no power and no roading." she said.

Tautari said many whānau were still dealing with the affects of recent flooding leaving them feeling "anxious".

"We had six homes that were completely lost... the water went through and those whānau had to evacuate. We've got three whanau that are currently in temporary accommodation and the other three whānau are living with their whānau all outside of Whirinaki at the moment." she said.

"The rest of the whānau in Whirinaki, they've just been going through re-establishing their access ways like roading, their sanitation, their septic tanks and removing all of the rubbish that got pushed down into their whare and just trying to get back to some sense of normal reality."

As the cyclone bears down, a series of service hubs - called Rai ki te Rai - have been set up across the North. Tautari said welfare agencies and hauora organisations would be present.

"We've also got some of the teams from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development to at their temporary accommodation services that they provide, but also a lot of mahi from the civil defence teams from Northland Regional Council and the whānau Far North District Council are coming up."

"It's quite heartbreaking to watch whānau go through it over again and just watch the stress come when the rain gets heavier, knowing that they could have to move from their whare but also that they could have to go through the whole situation again, removing silt, waters going through our marae and just the toll it takes, not just physically, but a lot of mental and emotional tolls." she said.

'It's not an easy time'

Former Ngāti Hine Forestry Trustchief executive and Green MP Hūhana Lyndon has been up North helping with the recovery effort. She told RNZ that the region now had to quickly switch it's focus from recovery to readiness.

"The weather is comparable to Cyclone Gabrielle and touch down as early as lunchtime Saturday, whānau are now gearing up to brace and prepare for impact." she said.

"We already have a stressed rohe or district from the last storm, it's not an easy time"

Lyndon said she was in regular touch with local and central government, as well as marae and community members.

"There's been a lot more response and pace by which people are moving now that we know that it's coming, and the size and scale of what it could be." she said.

"We've gone through Cyclone Gabriel, we've seen it, we've recovered from it. But it's coming again, and it's coming with significant impacts to Northland."

Lyndon said marae were key parts of the region's resilience infrastructure and should be resourced properly.

"We don't have solar, we've got gaps in generators, we've got whānau who are cut off. They cannot get across to their home, and culverts are out. We need, sparkies, we need to be checking that are waterlocked... we are getting there, but unfortunately we've got a storm coming so it's a bit of recovery as well as preparedness that's going on right now." Lyndon said.

Storms frieghtening for growers during prime harvest

The owner of a Wairoa business says everyone in the town is just hoping for the best.

Dianne Downey's lime growing business was devastated after a nearby river burst it's banks in 2024.

She is part of a class action lawsuit lodged against Hawke's Bay Regional Council after many homes and businesses were flooded, with questions being asked about whether the river bar crest should have been lowered ahead of the weather event.

Downey said this latest storm was frightening for growers across the region.

"I've got pickers out there flat out picking at the moment because I just don't want to lose all our fruit, we're in prime harvest and all these growers around here are, so it'll be the worst thing in the world if it all went pear shaped for us right now."

Hawke's Bay Regional Council said work was underway to maintain the lowered crest of the Wairoa bar to mitigate flooding.

Metservice has forecasted heavy rain and gale winds for Wairoa and surrounding rural areas on Sunday.

East Cape businesses getting geared up

Businesses in Hicks Bay say their community is resilient in the face of weather events.

RNZ spoke to businesses in Hicks Bay, where storms had badly hit the community at the start of the year.

One business told RNZ that there is no panic ahead of Cyclone Vaianu's anticipated landfall this weekend.

A supermarket says people are getting extra supplies to prepare but aren't getting more than what they need.

The store clerk says they want to stay open as long as it is safe so that they can be available to the community.

Retailers say the community is preparing to be self-sufficient, having learnt from the storms at the beginning of the year which caused roads to close and cut locals off from the rest of the motu.

A business owner says locals are getting used to living with severe weather events.

Cyclone Vaianu is expected to reach Northland late on Saturday night.

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