Gabrielle vs Helene
I have spent some time watching videos coming out of North Carolina following the devastating Cyclone Helene.
Pretty raw watching a situation one has experienced and certainly brings back many emotions and responses when you see coverage that is parallel to that here in HB.
It is heartening to see how the community reacted in the same way and neighbour helped neighbour and the immediate response was from those closest .
The stories coming out are reminiscent of Hawkes Bay tales and the relating of many close escapes and miraculous rescues are remarkably the same.
Unfortunately it looks like there are many more fatalities in NC and the surrounding areas compared to here but then the population would have been far greater and the proximity to the rivers was a major factor.
Couldn't help but get upset at the heart wrenching loss of 9 month old twins by a mother of seven. Her youngest washed away in the attempt to escape the water.
I was interested in some who said how fast it happened .I think this is related to different scenarios during a flood where pressure points are reached and dams burst or river banks breach thus releasing large volumes of water that surge through vulnerable sections of the terrain.
I remember watching the water at my place flowing for a long time at a particular level .All of a sudden it started rising quickly and reached the house and never stopped rising.
I now know this was related to major breaches of the stopbank upstream and also the collapse of the Puketapu Bridge.
It is interesting that many residents in NC and surrounds are talking rebuilding although the Mayor of one town said it will not be rebuilt.
People become very attached to their homes and land and it is natural that they want to stay.
We all can learn from these events and from history and adapt to new circumstances .The houses near some of the rivers were very close and even though it was known there had been flooding in the past this event was humungous and rivers rose up to capture homes that would have been out of reach in historic flood paths.
A particularly interesting video I watched was by The GeoModels .This showed the geography of the mountains at the centre of the downpour and how the rivers had to remove a huge amount of water from the Helene event and down it went through the valleys and on through settlements smashing anything in its path.
An observation at this point is the demeanor of many involved in the USA situation . people I have watched have been helpful , concerned and constructive whereas here we had bodies that were absent , cagey, unhelpful and certainly unwilling to listen.
Enough for now.
