Wairoa has received extra funding to help mitigate the damages and clean up after the recent flooding events, Prime Minister Chris Luxon and Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery Mark Mitchell announced today.
An additional $3 million of funding has been given to the Wairoa District Council to go towards "the clean-up of household waste and sediment for more than 400 properties impacted by last week’s weather event. This includes the collection, removal, and disposal of sediment, debris and household waste," Mitchell said.
Alongside earlier Government contributions of $600,000, "this means $3.6 million of Government funding is available to assist Wairoa communities with the recovery and rebuilding process."
It was believed the damage would cost the town around $40 million, and the intent of the $3 million is to "make sure we can remove property damage and take that off the streets."
He noted the council asked for $2.7 million.
The Prime Minister said his priority is ensuring Wairoa can receive support and assistance quickly.
"What's important to me, is making sure, in a place like Wairoa that can get cut off and be very isolated very easily... that we are speeding up the recovery and getting the support in there quicker. "
Having seen the land from a chopper, he called the land "vulnerable".
"The land itself is quite unstable at times... it is a difficult environment."
Mitchell said in an accompanying statement: "Our priority is to ensure that communities can return to normalcy as quickly as possible."
Luxon said longer-term solutions will be discussed following a review into the flooding after "significant concerns" that the Wairoa River bar wasn't opened quickly enough, before the flooding.
"We have a good sense of where that is heading to, but more will be said about that later. We've now got to kick on and get that work done."
It comes as the Wairoa District Council launched a Givealittle page to help raise funds for the recovery. The relief fund has swelled to more than $207,000 so far.
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