I was listening to the briefing and it kind of hit home how bad the situation is. I've been following Cyclone Gabrielle's impact on NZ, but after that (and not listening to the question/answer part really), my brain is having trouble processing it.
So far, there are five dead as a result of Cyclone Gabrielle. Add that to four lives from the January flooding in Auckland, and that is nine.
I know how it sounds, but five deaths so far with flooding as it is is extremely lucky. Nine deaths so far since January 27th, is great. It could be so much more. However, that child will never have the opportunity to have a job, feel romantic love, have children if they want, be independant, buy their own car and/or house and many more experiences. Each death, which would not have happened if the floods never happened, is a loss and in that sense, premature. However, no one can go back in time, no one can change the past, you live with the death.
From being in Christchurch on the 22nd of February 2011 and individually being extremely lucky, Christchurch was lucky it had only 185 deaths as a direct or indirect result of the earthquake. The severity, the time of day and many other factors.
Perspective, not a comparison: the earthquake aftermath in Syria and Turkey has a death toll of over 35 000. Contributing factors are not comparable to the Christchurch Earthquake and that's why you cannot compare the earthquakes, I just realized, but the consequences also highlight, for example, that 185 is extremely low and lucky. And the number of deaths so far since the 27th of January due to flooding is also something to be thankful for so far.
However, practically, the damage to vegetables, fruit, which are what feeds people, is immense. The damage to roads and power lines and water infrastructure, is huge. The forestry industry, what I'm talking about is logs, has taken a hit. You cannot grow vegetables and fruit overnight. Grapes, for wine, are the same, but to be honest, alcohol is not a necessity to live, but still.
Possibly most of all, the firefighters, police, Civil Defence, NEMA, power lines crews, USAR, truckers, supermarket employees, helicopter pilots, NZ Defence personnel, you are the ones pulling the long shifts, you are the ones whose lives are on hold, you go out to work, you shower, eat, sleep and do it over again for the next weeks, months, a year, or more? And your house might be flooded but livable, you may have been evacuated and need to file an insurance claim, you may have been evacuated and also not know if your loved one/s is/are ok.
Thank you so much for doing everything you can, you are the lifeline when life gets whittled down to the basics or nothing, you are the people who are out there keeping us safe (and happy) and also having to manage the emotional impact on yourself. Yes, it's part of the job, but you're human.
On a parallel, being a nurse, doctor, paramedic, and to a lesser extent police, a supermarket employee, etc is a job, but when covid-19 made you see everyday the sick and dying and effects of covid like people grabbing bread, milk, rice, pasta, toilet paper off the shelf or the rise in crime and its consequences, it takes its toll. Not a steady stream, hundreds, thousands all at once. You have loved ones too and with covid, there is no definite end in sight.
It's so hard for the wider population to remember it can take time to reconnect power, let alone the internet (is Netflix or YouTube really necessary?), water, re-stock the supermarket shelves and that you are humans too. You need to eat, shower and sleep. The bare minimum.
I realized cyclone Gabrielle is worse than the flooding in Auckland at the end of January because the aftermath is more widespread. One location or region is ok to deal with, but when it's larger then that means more affected and more help needed, down to exactly how many people are affected and how many people are needed to fix a road for example. That's also why evacuation centres are good, it groups everyone together instead of them being spread out so to speak.
When you're the one affected, it can be hard to understand what the extent is and what to do. The best thing can be to stay in your own bubble and wait for the authorities and by this I mean NEMA, Civil Defence, the Council etc. to sort it out. Stay at home, the power and water will come back at some point. Again, like covid, knowing the "end" is what you want. I likely know more about what's going on than hundreds of the affected people in the Hawke's Bay region because I have power, a safe place and internet and water. I'm not living in Hawke's Bay. Also, your brain is processing what you have just been through.
In Christchurch, we had the TV and every hour for a long time, there was no news and my brain was 'mushed', it was processing, or trying to process what had happened. On the ground is good for outsiders ie those not affected to know, but Christchurch was still trying to understand what was going on and figuring out the extent of the damage and deploying people to get the basics back up and running. We just sat, feeling the aftershocks. And there's bureaucracy that's not even public, behind the scenes, government, police, ambulances, firefighters trying to get resources to where they need to go and sometimes, it need authorisation so that person has to sign off on it. Supermarkets trying to figure out if they can open and if they can structurally, do they have enough people?
I feel for you Napier, I feel for you Hawke's Bay, and Auckland, I feel for all those affected by the flooding. The people Cyclone Gabrielle directly impacted and the frontline/essential workers. I know words do not help, you need action and it should be coming, the NZDF are adding to those already working to get the necessities back online and other regions are sending people out to you.
For those who may be impacted again in the coming days; and those who may be affected for the first time such as the Lower North Island, and maybe even the top of the South Island, be as prepared as you can.
My heart is with you New Zealand. Mon coeur est avec toi, Aotearoa.
-A.M.
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