Mass exodus of residents from the coast

Isolated coastal communities are reporting a mass exodus as roads connecting stricken settlements are made passable.

In the past 48 hours many people had fled the coast, Castlepoint farmer Anders Crofoot said.

“When we had that first meeting on Wednesday, I was amazed at how many people there were – about 150. But there was probably a quarter of that number at a meeting when the army brought supplies in.”

Crofoot said the mass evacuation was not overly surprising once people had timeframes for power returning, and the road was opened to residents only.

“By Thursday, people knew they could get back and forth.”

One remaining resident, Sarah-Jane Ellmers, said the army was a welcome sight.

“They dropped off supplies of rice, nappies, toilet paper, candles and matches. They also delivered my blood pressure medication. I wasn’t the only one – a few other people received their meds too.”

Crofoot said overnight Thursday, the coastal community had received another 17mm of unwelcome rain, bringing the total rainfall since Cyclone Gabrielle hit to 167mm.

“We are faring a lot better than Tinui and other places,” he said.

“In 2005, we had 150mm of rain in three hours, and that did a lot more damage to the station.

“It was a pain not having power for those first few days. We were swapping generators around to keep fridges and freezers cool, but cellphones and power is back.”

Crofoot said contact had also been made with Mataikona. Until yesterday, very little had been heard from the isolated community.

“We were cut off from Mataikona up to Suicide Rock, where there was a big slip – that’s now passable,” Crofoot said.

The Wairarapa Emergency Management Office confirmed contact had been made with Mataikona, and supplies had been delivered to the settlement.