{"id":256992,"date":"2026-01-29T03:52:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T03:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/256992\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T03:52:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T03:52:11","slug":"tairawhiti-civil-defence-troops-touch-down-in-flood-damaged-east-coast-communities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/256992\/","title":{"rendered":"Tair\u0101whiti Civil Defence troops touch down in flood-damaged East Coast communities"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Tair\u0101whiti<\/p>\n

\n

Photo: Facebook \/ Tair\u0101whiti Civil Defence\n<\/p>\n

Tair\u0101whiti Civil Defence says more than 25 military troops are expected to be on the ground in flood-damaged East Coast communities – Te Araroa and Wharekahika \/ Hicks Bay.<\/p>\n

Several slips on State Highway 35<\/a> during last week’s storm has separated the townships from one another, and access into each remains restricted.<\/p>\n

Civil Defence said it was working alongside Te R\u016bnanganui o Ng\u0101ti Porou and the defence force to deliver emergency supplies to isolated communities on the coast, such as food, medicine, personal protective equipment, and cleaning gear.<\/p>\n

It said the military were also providing vital information on where support is needed most.<\/p>\n

Gisborne District Council’s Diana Dobson said medical drops were ongoing and on Thursday a doctor, nurse practitioner, and medical officer of health landed in Wharekahika \/ Hicks Bay<\/a> – where an emergency shelter and water purification system had been set up at Hinemaurea Marae.<\/p>\n

\"Civil<\/p>\n

\n

Photo: Facebook \/ Tair\u0101whiti Civil Defence\n<\/p>\n

Speaking to RNZ from a busy Hinemaurea Marae, Ani Pahuru-Huriwai – of the Wharekahika\/Potaka\/Waikura flood relief team – said the community was doing well, all things considered.<\/p>\n

“[We’re] thankful for the people that are worrying about us, we are okay, we’re very grateful for the support that we’ve been receiving from around the country.<\/p>\n

“It has been devastating for us – heartbreaking seeing our paradise like this – but we will get through. We’re working together very well, and probably the silver-lining in all this is [that] everyone has come together.”<\/p>\n

Pahuru-Huriwai said the focus now was on getting the community through the days ahead.<\/p>\n

Dobson said a further 20 buildings were to undergo safety assessments in the coming days, with 14 properties red stickered and 17 given yellow stickers across Te Araroa, Onepoto and Hicks Bay.<\/p>\n

She said internet access had been restored to all areas.<\/p>\n

The New Zealand Defence Force has been approached for comment.<\/p>\n

Sign up for Ng\u0101 Pitopito K\u014drero<\/a>, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo: Facebook \/ Tair\u0101whiti Civil Defence Tair\u0101whiti Civil Defence says more than 25 military troops are expected to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256993,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,47,111,43,139,69,49,46,44,45],"class_list":{"0":"post-256992","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-audio","9":"tag-current-affairs","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz","14":"tag-podcasts","15":"tag-public-radio","16":"tag-radio-new-zealand","17":"tag-rnz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256992\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}