Preparing for and responding to Cyclone Gabrielle

Preparing for and responding to disasters is what we do. Even so, the scale of the devastation caused by recent weather and Cyclone Gabrielle is enormous. 

We know that communities all around the North Island are dealing with huge loss and uncertainty. We’re on the ground providing support where we can.  

We are also working hard on a plan to use the New Zealand Disaster Fund to support these communities to recover and to support Aotearoa New Zealand through future emergencies. We are working with those who know their communities best – community groups, iwi and local government. We know from our experience working on response and recovery in New Zealand and overseas in places like Türkiye and Syria, that this is the best way to support communities.  

Cyclone Gabrielle on a path for New Zealand  

When we all heard that Cyclone Gabrielle was potentially on its way to New Zealand we acted quickly and got our equipment and people into position.   

Many of our teams had only just returned home after being deployed to assist with the flooding in Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland and were still replenishing supplies and checking equipment and vehicles. They were now in a race against time to plan and prepare for the changing path of the cyclone.   

Jackie Bubb, Director of Domestic Operations, worked with our logistics team to move our vehicles and equipment in the North Island. While some locations including the Hawke’s Bay had equipment pre-positioned, other equipment was relocated into Tairāwhiti | Gisborne and Coromandel. In Whangārei, we moved our equipment to higher ground, and in Auckland, we reconciled all equipment that was not being used for the Auckland flood response, so it was ready for redeployment. This is always a logistical challenge because we rely on volunteers to move our vehicles, 1,000s of stretchers and a lot of large heavy equipment such as generators.   

At the same time, we were mobilising our trained Disaster Welfare and Support Teams from all around the motu. Our people train for this every week rain or shine, juggling their work and family commitments. They come from a range of backgrounds. From teachers, tradies, civil servants, engineers, bus drivers – we are all united by a shared commitment to our Fundamental Principles.  

Then the cyclone hit.  

Supporting the response  

In response, we called on every one of our 300 Disaster Welfare and Support Team volunteers – whether deploying into the field or asking them to cancel plans to be on standby. This is the first time since the Canterbury earthquakes 12 years ago that all our volunteer teams have been required to travel around Aotearoa for the response.  

In the last three and half weeks during our response to the Auckland Flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle, we have:  

• Supported 1,500 people who took shelter in Civil Defence Centres.
• Moved 1,000 stretchers around the North Island to areas hit by flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle. 
• Recorded close to 4,000 hours of time on the ground from our specialised and trained Red Cross teams.  

We have been working closely with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and local Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) groups in Tāmaki Makaurau, Tairāwhiti, Hawke’s Bay, Northland, Whitianga, and around the North Island.   

NEMA lead the response. NEMA and CDEM direct us where to assist.   

We’re also working alongside incredible community groups, iwi, and many individuals who have pitched in to help.  

The main things we’ve been doing in this response are: 

• psychosocial support 
• providing shelter, equipment and support in Civil Defence Centres (evacuation centres), and 
• carrying out needs assessments.