Summer started with a hiss and a roar in the Waikato over the Christmas and New Year’s period lulling us into a false sense of security.
A few short days after celebrating the onset of 2023, Cyclone Hale dumped significant amounts of rain on the Coromandel, sending holidaymakers back to the safety of their homes.
The first cracks appeared in the Kopu-Hikuai Highway (State Highway 25A) – a main route for travellers heading for the eastern side of the Coromandel Peninsula.
Anniversary Weekend didn’t fare any better, the deluge of rain that causing flooding in Auckland also impacted the Waikato with SH23 between Raglan and Hamilton closed, among others.
Cyclone Gabrielle wasn’t far behind wrecking destruction across the North Island, hitting the Hawkes Bay with devastating effect.
As well as the tragic loss of lives, the toll of Gabrielle is still only coming to light, with damages estimated to be at least $13 billion NZD.
Whilst in comparison the Waikato got off lightly but there have been areas affected by these weather events.
The Waikato District Council has had a team of five inspectors on the road network identifying and recording damage to roads, and a couple of crews out clearing trees by the sides of roads.
There are many rural roads in the district down to one land due to slip clearing or washout but the main ones include SH23/Raglan-Hamilton and the Port Waikato-Waikaretu Rd.
Both suffered major slumps and are vital roads linking the communities to their main cities and supply networks.
A temporary fix by Waka Kotahi on the Raglan road to create a detour above the slip on private land was opened at the beginning of March. This will give Waka Kotahi time to asses the slip and plan for long-term resilience of the route
Raglan Business Chamber chair Lisa James Pemberton says the business community feel enormously lucky compared to people in worst-hit regions.
“If you’d spoken to me before the Hawke’s Bay fallout, we (the business community) would have been up in arms, and we would have been jumping up and down and moaning. But I see that in context and when you look at what’s happening down there (Hawke’s Bay), we’ve got nothing to complain about. But it is impacting us.”
Pemberton has been touching base with Raglan small business owners and most are doing well. Many have told Pemberton that the local support is seeing them through, especially when the town was cut off after Cyclone Gabrielle made the Waingaro detour road impassable for eight-hours.
“Our locals have actually been keeping us going. We were only cut off from the world for eight hours, so we were hardly blocked off from the world at all. But that day, we got so many customers, we were so busy. Everybody came down to support us because they had some free time,” she says.
The co-owner of Raglan restaurant Orca Eatery & Bar, Pemberton has experienced courier companies and food suppliers going above and beyond the call of duty.
“They are still committed to giving us food every day or every day that we are scheduled for delivery, and making sure that they turn up on time. The drivers are leaving work extra early to get out to Raglan,” she says.
Anniversary Weekend, normally a big earner for Raglan businesses, took a big downturn due to Aucklanders being unable to travel after the floods.
With the main road closed, Pemberton says, many visitors are reluctant to take the detour to Raglan.
“You just don’t get the day trippers that are going, ‘look it’s sunny, let’s just shoot out to Raglan for the day and get a bite to eat or rent a kayak or go on the Wahine Moe’. They’re just not coming out. It’s too hard. The road is too scary. No one really knows where to go.”
Added to this was the high levels of E.coli in the harbour and beaches making it the “perfect storm”, she says.
Waitangi Weekend didn’t fare any better in the seaside town reliant on making the big bucks in summer to see them through the colder months.
“Those two big weekends for us in Raglan are the cream on top of the summer. They’re your last big push to really get good money out of the summer.”
Worst affected, Pemberton says, are the tourist operators providing activities that rely on good weather.
“I know of three operators that are based on the water or during activities out in the region, and the weather has actually stopped them. One guy said to me it’s the worst summer he’s had in the whole history of his business.”
But it hasn’t all been doom and gloom, Pemberton says, Raglan accommodation cancellations are being filled by holidaymakers who have had to change their plans.
“People with Airbnb accommodation that I’ve spoken to have actually ended up with a win. They may have got a cancellation but those cancellations were filled up really quickly because no one can go anywhere else.”
Angela Williams, spokesperson at Raglan iHub, says town has seen steady visitor numbers with many having changed their original travel plans.
“In many cases the visitors were planning to be in Northland or on the East Coast. Circumstances had forced them to reschedule and head west,” she says.
Timeline
Monday 30 January:
SH23 closed to one lane due to cracking.
Tuesday 31 January:
Crack became 300mm drop.
Wednesday 1 February:
Drop became slump. Geotechnical assessments underway. Road closed overnight and detour route established.
Thursday 2 February:
Road closed to all traffic, while engineers continued to investigate severity of the situation and ongoing risk.
Friday 3 February:
Plan actioned to construct a temporary diversion road.
Saturday 4 February:
Tree felling began.
Sunday 5 February through to Saturday 11 February:
Felling completed and earthworks begin.
Sunday 12 February:
Work halted due to a fatal incident on a nearby site, and the impending Cyclone Gabrielle.
Tuesday 14 February:
Site re-inspected by geotechnical experts, slump has deepened to 2.5m and is now around 30m long.
Wednesday 15 February:
Earthworks and road construction resumes.
