Ryan Bridge: Did we over hype Cyclone Vaianau?

The storm for the most of the North Island was a fizzer.

The TV news struggled to find pictures of anything actually happening other than a few trees down and reporters breathlessly doing pieces to camera in the wind.

Judy Gill: When Tree Removal Becomes Risk

Hawke’s Bay, Mauao, and the Consequences of Substituting Ideology for Environmental Science

Introduction

Natural disasters do not begin with storms alone.

They begin with decisions made years earlier — decisions about land use, vegetation, risk tolerance, and which knowledge systems are permitted to guide public policy.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Are the insurance companies doing us a favour on flood-prone areas?

The thing we’d been warned about with climate change has now happened - AA Insurance has stopped offering new insurance policies for Westport because of the risk of flooding.

At the very end of last year, AA Insurance wrote to the Buller District mayor advising that the company would be putting a - what they call temporary - stop to new insurance policies for properties in the 7825 postcode, which includes Westport, Carters Beach, and Cape Foulwind.

Ryan Bridge: The climate change message from the Government

Don’t expect a handout.

That’s basically the message to homeowners hoping the Government will swoop in and buyout houses after the next big cyclone.

Watts is the climate Minister. He took a paper to cabinet. I had a read in the weekend.

Clive Bibby: Coverups and Culpability

No doubt this article will bring howls of indignant defence from those who should be held to account for the destruction that has taken place during the most recent Marlborough and the North Island East Coast floods in January of 2023.

Some will say it is easy to point the finger at those who had responsibilities for public safety after the event and they are right to do so but, unless we learn from the mistakes that could and should have been avoided, we will not be better prepared for the next one and our losses from these and similar events will just be compounded in the future.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 1/7/24

Roll up, oinkers – Shane Jones is calling hogs to a new trough, not as rich as the PGF, true, but a $1.2bn swill must be tempting

When it has been filled with a swill funded by taxpayers and invitations have been issued to various organisations to come and slurp, it’s fair to suppose it is a trough. This likelihood is increased significantly when we learn the invitation to come and slurp is issued by Shane Jones.

Clive Bibby: The day after tomorrow - a year in retrospect

The following is a progress report on how things are in one corner of ground zero following the devastating floods during Cyclones Hale and Gabrielle of 2023. 

For what it is worth, our personal situation 12 months on from the Cyclones is somewhat of a mirror image (less dire than some but perhaps worse than others) of the average casualty tying to rehabilitate themselves after those soul destroying events. 

Heather du Plessis-Allan: I'm not feeling sorry for forestry owners over new slash rules

Here's some good news, we've finally got some new rules around forestry slash that might actually make a difference to places like Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay, which have been absolutely pounded by logs in Cyclone Gabrielle.

The rules are kicking in very soon- just 4 weeks’ time. And they will require forestry owners to remove their slash if it’s over a certain size, and it’s not particularly large.

Kerre Woodham: We'd better start taking heed of the things that work - as well as those that don't

The Government and councils affected by this year's floods are slowly working their way towards a resolution of the buyout of residents of the most affected properties in Hawkes Bay, Auckland, Coromandel and the Far North.

The Auckland relief package has just been announced, well, in excess of a billion dollars in terms of costs, however, the Government and council contributions will be net of any insurance proceeds.

Clive Bibby: Solutions for dummies

Another update from the coalface. Farming in a hostile environment is difficult when your support is deliberately withheld or drip fed to those who can make the best use of it.

Strange tactics from those who could make a huge difference.

Why is it that politicians don’t get it.

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. 

Clive Bibby: It will take more than time to heal this one

While the nation reacts generously and sympathetically to those who have lost so much in these recent climate events, it is worth facing up to the reality of what needs to happen by way of rehabilitation.

When doing so, it is important that our response to the personal losses and material damage is well thought through allowing decisions to be made that may not, at first glance, appeal to those who are wedded to the old ways of doing things.

Kate Hawkesby: If this is our new normal, we have to do better with vulnerable communities

This cyclone, much like the last storm that hit Auckland, has been a tale of two storms. 

Some parts have been absolutely hammered; others completely unscathed. Some lost power, homes, cars, roofs or trees, others barely felt it. 

The flooding was worse last time for Auckland; other parts of the country have been hit much harder with flooding with this one. Hawkes Bay, Gisborne and the West Coast of Auckland appear worst hit. 

And there is room I think, as I said yesterday, for a more bespoke response to these events. Instead of blanket cancellations and shut downs of a whole city, to look at areas affected and who needs what most. 

Mike's Minute: We're overdue to make calls around insurance and building

One of the things that may be revealed out of the weather mess is the fact we are woefully underinsured as a country.

It's these sorts of things that mark you as first world, or otherwise.

One of the most insightful comments made over the summer was from David Seymour who expressed his profound concern that we are dangerously close to losing our first world status.

He is right, but sadly it won't be a discussion we have this election year, despite the fact we should.

Clive Bibby: Enquiry or Review - Govt. deliberately chose the wrong one.

One of first things they teach you as an MP joining a new government is that you never agree to an enquiry without knowing the outcome before it starts proceedings.

Although last week's announcement stated that a review of the recent East Coast floods was chosen over an enquiry because the latter would take too long - that is not the real reason for the choice.

From government’s point of view, enquires have an unfortunate habit of getting to the truth. And this one, should it be agreed to, has the potential to be politically damaging to an administration that has quite a lot of egg on its face after an event that exposed policies that have contributed to a nation wide problem.

Clive Bibby: Government’s response to East Coast flooding is insulting

Normally, when a state of emergency is called, as it was on the East Coast last Wednesday when Cyclone Hale reached its peak, you expect all the local and government agencies who are charged with mobilising the relief effort to be operating in unison to help those in need. 

As one of those living at the epicentre of the destruction (we live on the Paroa Road inland from Tolaga Bay), l am able to give an accurate account at what happened immediately after and since the storm decimated a good portion of our rural community. 

Bryan Leyland: Earthquakes, snowfalls and road tunnels

Recent events in the South Island highlight what engineers can–and cannot–do.

My favorite definition of an engineer is "someone who can do for five bob was any fool can do for a quid”. Engineers strive to do the best job they can in the light of the knowledge available at the time without wasting huge amounts of money. As a result we have progressed from early steam engines with, perhaps, 5% efficiency to modern power stations at 60% efficiency. Bridges have got longer, stronger lighter and cheaper and so on. But advances in technology has always been punctuated by periodic failures. Detailed analyses of these failures has been a major factor in designing machines and structures that are stronger and safer. The process is continuous and, every now and then, there will be failures. Nevertheless, in the long run everyone will benefit from the lessons that have been learned. In engineering, as in most–or all–aspects of modern life, risk can be minimized but it cannot be eliminated.