Geographical areas that were damaged during Cyclone Gabrielle are being assessed into three risk categories.

Next week, the Wairoa District Council and Recovery Team will engage with property owners directly to share information around which area their property falls into.

The three categories are Category 1 Repair (low risk), Category 2 (managed risk) and Category 3 Move (high risk).

This category assessment has been done in collaboration with local councils, insurance industry, the financial sector and central government.

Properties identified as Category 1 are low risk and can be repaired.

• These are homes in an area that can be fixed, and owners can get moving to get the work done.
• They can be repaired to their previous state.
• These properties may have minor flood damage. For example, they may require minor repair but don’t require significant redesign.

If you don’t think your property should be in Category 1, talk to your council and get involved in the conversations happening in your community.

Properties identified as Category 2 need community or property level interventions to manage future risk.  This is the broadest category, and the solutions are not simple. More information and investigation are needed to understand what risk mitigation measures might be needed in the community, and at a specific property level.

• Work on a property like drains, retaining walls, raising buildings may be enough to mitigate the risk, or at a community level, initiatives like stop banks, drains, pump station, changed upstream land-use would reduce the risk.
• There are properties where more assessment will be needed, which may change the risk assessment and the options for the future of those properties.

Properties identified to be Category 3 are high-risk and people need to move.

• These homes are not safe to live in because of the unacceptable risk of future flooding and loss of life.
• Homes should not be rebuilt on their current sites and land can no longer be used for residential property.
• Future severe weather events cannot be sufficiently mitigated.
• Some land may be fine to use while other land may present risks of injury or death in the event of severe weather.

Locally, engagement will be face-to-face in communities and by email or letter. Discussions will be locally led to ensure a strong connection to the community is maintained.

The questions and scenarios that come out of the engagement will be feed back into the decisions and future support packages made by local and central government.

25 May 2023

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