The Government has declared a national state of emergency for only the third time in the history of Aotearoa New Zealand, in light of the “unprecedented weather event” that is Cyclone Gabrielle.
Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty signed the declaration on Tuesday morning with the full support of the Prime Minister and the opposition spokesperson for emergency management, whom McAnulty advised prior to the declaration.
The national state of emergency initially covered the six regions that had previously declared a local state of emergency: Northland, Auckland, Tairāwhiti, Bay of Plenty, Waikato, and Hawkes Bay. Later that afternoon, McAnulty signed a further declaration extending the state of national emergency to the Tararua District.
The only other time a national state of emergency was declared in New Zealand were in March 2020, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and in February 2011 post the Christchurch earthquake.
“This is an unprecedented weather event that is having major impacts across much of the North Island,” McAnulty said in an official statement. “Since Sunday, [the National Emergency Management Agency] have been in close contact with local civil defence emergency management (CDEM) teams of affected areas to assess the need of a declaration of a state of national emergency.”
NEMA local teams had assessed that the havoc inflicted by Cyclone Gabrielle requires a national state of emergency.
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— MetService (@MetService) February 13, 2023
Our 11am issue of the Severe Weather Watches and Warnings is below.
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Head over to https://t.co/qHyE5zzql5 to get the full details. pic.twitter.com/SA6FeRhdR7
Up until Tuesday morning, the official advice to the National Government was that it was not necessary.
“NEMA met with the affected CDEM groups,” McAnulty said. “Based on feedback from the groups and NEMA, I consider that the criteria have now been met and a national state of emergency would be beneficial. The local leadership, CDEM groups, and emergency responders in all of the affected areas have been doing an outstanding job, but the widespread damage caused by this cyclone means we need a national declaration to support them.”
The declaration will enable the national government to support and coordinate with the affected regions for further resources, and set and streamline priorities across the country in response to the natural catastrophe. It will also give the national controller the legal authority to apply resources across New Zealand in line with the national-level response.
State of National Emergency Declared
— Kieran McAnulty MP (@Kieran_McAnulty) February 13, 2023
The Government has this morning declared a National State of Emergency, to assist in the response to Cyclone Gabrielle.
I signed the declaration at 8.43am.
“I want to emphasise that the Government has already been surging support and resources to the regions for some days,” McAnulty added. Insurers were likewise among the first to respond, flying in additional line-ups of claims specialists to support local teams responding to customers affected by either Cyclone Gabrielle or the January floods.
The declaration now applies to Northland, Auckland, Tairāwhiti, Bay of Plenty, Waikato, and Hawke’s Bay CDEM Group areas, and the Tararua District.
Any thoughts on the declaration? Let us know in the comments below.
