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\nWork continues to reopen the road up to Mount Pirongia.
\nPhoto: RNZ \/ Libby Kirkby-McLeod\n<\/p>\n
Waip\u0101 District is now in the recovery stage after extreme weather forced it into a state of emergency earlier this month.<\/p>\n
But with some residents still cut off and the town of Pirongia still rationing water, things were far from back to normal.<\/p>\n
RNZ talked to Paul Candace, who lives on Mount Pirongia, two weeks after the disaster.<\/p>\n
He explained the moment he knew something was badly wrong.<\/p>\n
“I saw the whole mountain go black from a cloud,” he said.<\/p>\n
This was followed by a massive noise up in the mountain.<\/p>\n
Flash flooding bought boulders, logs and massive amounts of water down the mountain.<\/p>\n
“We were told in one [flash flood] we have video of, 200 million litres of water came down in one go.”<\/p>\n
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\nThe road up to Mount Pirongia was washed out on 14 Feburary.
\nPhoto: Supplied \/ Waipa District Council\n<\/p>\n
Twenty families live off a one-way road up the mountain. The road was plummeted and the hamlet was cut off.<\/p>\n
Days went by, families shared what they could and a way through a farm was opened for those with a four-wheel drive.<\/p>\n
But two weeks on, the road was still closed and the community continued to rely on the good will of the farmer’s track which takes three times as long as normal to travel through and can only be used on a dry day.<\/p>\n
Candace wasn’t sure when the road would be back. The flash flooding, damage, and uncertainty was taking its toll, including financially.<\/p>\n
“For me and my family we can’t make any money because my wife has her business up on the mountain and I need to get down to my contracts. People go ‘oh yeah, you lost fencing’ and that sort of stuff… it’s a little bit deeper than that,” Candace said.<\/p>\n
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\nThe flash floods not only damaged the roads, they took out the tracks and pest trapping systems on the mountain.
\nPhoto: Supplied \/ Waipa District Council\n<\/p>\n
Another major worry for the community was the environment.<\/p>\n
The Department of Conservation stated that Pirongia Mountain was the largest area of native forest remaining close to Hamilton.<\/p>\n
It was home to many native birds and the community worked hard to make it safe to reintroduce the North Island k\u014dkako.<\/p>\n
That’s all under threat.<\/p>\n
“From these sorts of weather events, obviously the birds are in danger, but what happens is all of our trapping systems are down, the tracks have been washed out,” Candace said.<\/p>\n
The pest species also tended to explode after a major weather event, he said.<\/p>\n
Waip\u0101 councillor Clare St Pierre spent years supporting the Pirongia restoration work and was also deeply concerned.<\/p>\n
“There has been significant damage I understand and big slips. It’s the Department of Conservation’s role to assess what the damage is so we are just waiting on that,” she said.<\/p>\n
The Pirongia Te Aroaro o Kahu Restoration Society said it would welcome any financial or volunteer help to try and protect and restore what remained.<\/p>\n
Off the mountain and in the village of Pirongia, water also continued to be rationed after major damage to the reservoir.<\/p>\n
St Pierre said for many people and places around Pirongia life isn’t “back to normal”.<\/p>\n
“There’s recognition at council that it is going to take time, so there is a real desire to make sure those people are supported over the medium term, not just now but going forward,” she said.<\/p>\n
Good news came through every day; people were making an effort to support local businesses and the New Zealand Transport Agency had found a solution to reopen State Highway 39.<\/p>\n
But what was quickly broken would take much time to repair.<\/p>\n