My first newsletter was not planned around a cyclone. I had intended to introduce myself a little bit,
but that can wait for another time.
There will be many stories within our community about the destruction to buildings, trees, fences as well as defrosted freezers. Over the last three days I have driven many backroads assessing our
ability to reopen the school. The tree damage on Kara Road was substantial, Tatton Road also had
many trees down. Lack of power, phone and internet has really hampered communication.
The power lines on the corner of Tatton and Mangakahia Road had significant damage which took most of Tuesday to fix. On Wednesday, North power started on the downed lines by the weigh station past the service station in the village, with the team departing before 4pm. At 4:30 on Wednesday, we thought that power would not be restored and school would not open for Thursday. Power was restored at 5pm that afternoon, just as I ready to put out a closed school message. We were not sure if the power would cope with the village demands as we had heard power needed conserving. It was a nervous arrival at school to check the power had remained on. As of Thursday, many families continue to have no power.
This particular storm has made communication very difficult. My cell/internet had no coverage from my home in Kauri or at school, requiring physical trips to town for reception, different cell service providers and staff members to get out messages. Our school App can only manage very short messages as alerts. I will be keen to put out a google survey to assess the best form of communication for families in an emergency event, such as we have just experienced. Your board chairperson, Kim Brown was in constant communication with me prioritising opening the school if it was safe. We could not open without power due to the septic tank pumps, as well as our inability to communicate with families if children required early pick up or emergency contact.
Thankfully, the power has stayed on during Thursday and we remained open all day.
Our hearts must go out to the communities of Hawkes Bay and the East Coast who have been
devastated during this storm event.
Terry Brock
