Clive Bibby: Who cares enough!

A recent TV article focusing on the East Coast Burgess farming family struggling in the aftermath of last year’s cyclone damage to their livelihoods, was a graphic reminder of the human collateral damage from such events but the real tragedy behind the piece is that the magnitude of the problem would have escaped most of the Nation’s viewers. 

While that is understandable in the circumstances, it is nonetheless - very, very sad and highlights the real difficulty trying to find a way to alleviate their suffering. 

Clive Bibby: Time for the politicians to listen to the people - all the people.

A couple of weeks on from the Cyclone that wrecked havoc throughout Tairawhiti and the northern parts of Hawkes Bay and those of us at the coalface are still trying to salvage what is left that can be used as the basis of rehabilitation. 

Having survived every major climate event since and including Cyclone Bola my wife and I have become old hands at assessing the damage associated with each one in relative terms. But more importantly, we remain two of the few who can offer comparative analysis looking at the effectiveness of local and central government’s response to each event. 

Cam Slater: Will the Govt Response Lose or Win Them an Election?

As the scale of the disaster of Cyclone Gabrielle on the East Coast of the North Island is becoming more and more known, people in the region are starting to wonder whether the Government response will be like the response in the US to Hurricane Katrina, which ultimately cost George W. Bush an election, or will it be like the Christchurch earthquake response which helped John Key win an election.

The people on the ground who are struggling to deal with everything are starting to think it will be like Hurricane Katrina.

Some key examples come to mind. On Sunday there were twelve helicopters sitting on the tarmac at Napier airport doing nothing because no one had tasked them to do anything.