Cyclone Gabrielle (1 Viewer)

[Darrell]

Well it’s been a rough few days for the North island of NZ specifically the east coast. We are in the middle of a national emergency with our region pretty much cut off due to destroyed bridges, roads and power substations.

Luckily my family and home is all ok but the same can’t be said for thousands of others.
These guys in the Esk Valley are friends of mine and I’m very relieved to see that they and their families are ok.

Stuff

i.stuff.co.nz

This is one small part of an entire region that has been absolutely smashed.
Hope to have some better news in the coming days

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Darrell, my heart goes out to you. We didn't have as much mud, but I've been through massive Hurricanes since Betsy (1965), including Camille, Katrina, and Ida. We were lucky. We only lost enough of the roof to count as a total loss, and our neighbor lost a huge tree that blocked the street pretty badly for a while.

After Katrina in 2005, I was reassigned to Ft. Worth Texas for several months because the Navy had an alternate site there. But I had the chance to visit home (and my wife) once per month. She returned home and dealt with contractors for our house while I stayed in Texas and sent home money. The first time I came home, I was shocked, stunned, and saddened to see how many old trees had been uprooted by the flood that didn't get drained for three weeks. (That's a long story in itself.) New Orleans East (not a separate town, but a subdivision) was full of apartments missing facades and roofs. Many buildings including the Lake Forest Mall, a Sam's Club, and a WalMart were flattened. The city's Lower 9th Ward was so badly devastated that it became a ghost town and is still only slowly rebuilding, 18 years after the event. These pictures were from my street after Hurricane Ida passed directly over my house. The tree crossing the street WAS a 60-year-old water oak.

 

[AccessBlaster]

Here's to better times

 

[pbaldy]

Good luck Darrell, I hope the worst is past. My daughter lives in the Wellington area; they were just expecting winds and rain, nothing too destructive.

 

[Jon]

Here's to better times

Those fries look good.

 

[AccessBlaster]

Those fries look good.

Had a cheat day yesterday when @Darrell bad news hit. But it's back on track today.

Wishing NZ a better day!