- Hon Kieran McAnulty
The Government has ended the states of national emergency declared on 14 February over the Northland, Auckland, and Waikato Civil Defence Emergency Management Group areas and the Tararua District, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced today.
Minister McAnulty gave notice of a national transition period over these areas, which came into effect immediately.
A national transition period enables a seamless transition from the emergency response phase to the recovery stage. It provides local Civil Defence teams with the powers they may need during the early stages of the recovery, such as clearing roads and disposing of dangerous materials. The national transition period also enables remedial works to be carried out, for example to restore access to cut-off properties or make temporary infrastructure repairs.
"NEMA has met with the affected CDEM Groups about the move to a national transition period. This is similar to what was done after the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake," said Kieran McAnulty.
NEMA is also working with affected districts in Wairarapa to understand whether they should also be included in the national transition period. A decision on this is expected in the next week.
Tairāwhiti and Hawke's Bay are still in an active response phase and will remain under a state of national emergency at the present time.
"The devastating impact of Cyclone Gabrielle is still being felt by communities across the northern and eastern parts of the North Island.
"As the immediate response to Cyclone Gabrielle comes to an end, we need to make decisions about how best to support local communities and CDEM Groups to make the transition to recovery.
"It's going to be a long haul, and we are committed to a locally-led recovery, supported by central government. The transition period will ensure the planning is coordinated for building back better.
"Once again, I want to acknowledge the extraordinary efforts of everyone contributing to what is now one of New Zealand's most significant emergency responses, and assure impacted
communities that the Government will continue to stand alongside you for as long as it takes to recover from the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle," said Kieran McAnulty.
