CYCLONE UPDATE

 

We had another bad night from Cyclone Gabrielle with crashes and bangs and the house shaking.

This morning I donned wet weather gear (it's still raining) and checked around the house and the neighbourhood. We lost a few more branches from trees and I had to search for items like the rubbish bin lid and the compost bin lid but fortunately we came away unscathed.

Some places in the neighbourhood weren't so lucky however. I walked down to the end of our road towards the jetty. The road is closed there due to a very major slip that is ongoing and exposing the foundations of the house perched above. It's a dangerous situation as seen in Muriwai this morning and in Remuera a couple of weeks ago. The road to the jetty is totally munted as well.

Walking back down our road towards the main road I saw neighbour's trees down and fences flattened. A house next to the community hall has its windows blown in and what looks like a large shed or someone's roof crumpled up and smashed through their fence. I crossed the main road and saw the house of one of my tennis buddies (not Mike) has its roof ripped off. This was the Sunday midnight call-out of the fire brigade I heard and saw the flashing lights for. Poor Val. I've tried to contact her to offer assistance but she must be sheltering with friends somewhere.

I tried to drive to my sister's holiday house to check in things but the road was closed due to fallen trees and damage to the seal.

I'll try again this afternoon.

A couple of boats have sunk in our bay right out in front of our place.

Around the area there are reports of yachts and launches washed ashore and damaged:

But good new though - last week I sold our transparent kayak. 

I hope that the woman who bought and her son haven't been washed away.

I called my sister in Auckland where they are getting the cyclone. They've been stranded on their own property as a huge macrocarpa fell down and is blocking the driveway. They are trimming it away bit by bit so that they can get out if they need to. The area is flooding and the storm is affecting them just like up here. They are close to Muriwai where a house fell down and injured two firemen (one serious in hospital and the other missing).

Lynn's cousin called from Wellington. They have an apartment there but also own a house on Napier hill. A neighbour called them to say that a gum tree on their property crashed down on to their (the neighbour's) house. Hawkes Bay apparently is being hammered.

Bloody archangels!

Anyway - stay safe wherever you are.