The Esk Valley was submerged during Cyclone Gabrielle when the river burst its banks. Photo: RNZ/ Nick Monro
Esk Valley could flood as badly as it did during Cyclone Gabrielle if another cyclone hits, because problems at the river mouth have not been fixed, a resident says.
Two people died and hundreds of properties were damaged or destroyed when the Esk River burst across the valley in February 2023.
A damning review of the Hawke's Bay Regional Council's response, released this week, laid bare its flood protection failures before the storm.
The report's 47 recommendations included that the council review resource consents for the clean fill operation at the Esk River Mouth, which the review panel said was blocked, causing the river to flow back into the valley.
But Esk Valley resident Daniel Gale said it still had not been fixed, so there was still the same risk as before Cyclone Gabrielle.
"I want to see that land lowered back to what it was to allow water out, I believe that exacerbated our flood to the level and effects that we saw," he said.
"If Gabrielle happened again today or tomorrow the exact same thing is going to happen, nothing has changed."
The council didn't respond to RNZ's questions about the river mouth before this story was published. However, its chair Hinewai Ormsby said earlier in the week that 22 of the recommendations had already been acted on, and the council would soon consider the rest.
"What we can indicate to our communities is we are up for the challenge to come out, to co-design how we manage water better in the next event," she said.
"We have to work hard at that and we know there is a rebuild of trust that needs to be done, but we can't do it without our communities so we are going to be coming out more and more to have that hard conversation."
The council is separately facing legal action over the flooding in Wairoa in June.
Hundreds of homes were damaged or destroyed in the Esk Valley flooding. Photo: RNZ/ Sally Murphy
Gale said he was also worried about his property rights. He had lived in the valley for decades and despite his property being red-zoned after the cyclone, he wanted to stay put.
The buy-out from council was voluntary, but he feared that could change as the flood review recommended stricter regulations for housing in flood risk areas.
"I believe they will use one of these mechanisms to force us out of our homes. That's been our biggest concern since day one," he said.
The council refused to comment on that issue.
Ormsby said the council would be looking at creating more room for rivers to flood, such as spillways and diversions when stop banks were over-topped, which could impact residents.
"We've got a whole lot of hard conversations to have with our communities around where does the secondary back-up water go in the event of a 'super event', so that's our challenge and that's what we've got to do going forward," she said.
The review also highlighted the council's failure to include historical flooding data when mapping where floodwaters would go.
Esk Valley resident Steve Wheeler was not impressed.
"I was gobsmacked. We had always believed that regional council didn't look at anything historical.
"There is avery simple thing here - if you are in charge of an organisation and paid gold to be a leader, then lead, take charge and do the right thing."
The council will discuss the rest of the report's recommendations at a meeting in August.
