Cyclone Gabrielle, police have heard 1400 reported uncontactable

Tūranganui-a-Kiwa - Police have received more than 1400 reports of people uncontactable across the North Island in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle.

Four people have now been confirmed dead following the storm:

• The body of a young person was located in Eskdale shortly before 2pm today

• The child is believed to have been caught in rising water yesterday

• The body of a volunteer firefighter was recovered from a landslide in Muriwai early this afternoon

• A person died following a landslip on a rural property in Putorino yesterday afternoon

• A body was located on the shore in Bay View, Napier last night

As of 2.30pm today, 1442 people have been registered via the Police 105 online reporting form as uncontactable.

There are 111 reports of people now safe. The vast majority of reports are from Hawke’s Bay and Tairawhiti alone, with the remainder from across the North Island.

The numbers include duplicate reports of the same person reported uncontactable by different people.

While police expect a large number of the reports to be the result of communication lines being down. They have confirmed several people are missing in the Hawke’s Bay and Tairawhiti areas, for whom they have grave concerns.

With other storm-affected districts reporting they are able to manage their response within existing resources, Police National Headquarters is now focussed on critical support for the Tairawhiti and Hawke’s Bay areas.

Police are redeploying more than 70 staff from Bay of Plenty, Central, Wellington, Tasman, Canterbury and Southern districts, as well as the Royal New Zealand Police College, to Hawke’s Bay and Tairawhiti over the next 48 hours.

Those staff will support recovery efforts and provide community reassurance.

Police yesterday deployed 12 Search and Rescue specialist staff to assist with recovery efforts in Eastern District, which are continuing today.

Police are aware that many of their staff in the Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne areas have themselves been affected by the storm, but they have continued to work hard to support rescue efforts, manage road closures, and make contact with isolated people.

Communications into and out of the area continue to be challenging, however, as telecommunication services start to come back online, Police anticipate an increase in the number of reports of missing people, found people, damage to property, and demand for basic resources such as food, water, and fuel.

In Tāmaki Makaurau and Northland, the focus continues to be supporting the ongoing recovery.

Police are continuing to carry out reassurance patrolling throughout the regions and in affected areas.

Police urge anyone concerned about friends and family to try their usual methods of communication first, whether that’s a phone number, email, social media or a pre-planned emergency meeting place.

When all means of contact have been exhausted, anyone with genuine concerns for a person’s safety is asked to provide as much information as possible via the 105 online form: https://forms.police.govt.nz/person-inquired-for