So very, very proud Flaxmere!

Our community really stood up during Cyclone Gabrielle, something we can all be very proud of!

From churches and community groups, to our Te Aranga Marae and Flaxmere Community Centre, we provided immediate and critical help to hundreds of our whānau and friends from hard hit areas across the motu.

We were very lucky in Pāharakeke to get away with almost no impact, which left us in a position to help. Many of us have whānau in Omahu and Waiohiki, two of the more than 20 devastated areas, and we able to provide many with food, clothes, and a temporary roof over their heads as they processed what they had been through, and what the future might be.

Our people also held their hands out to RSE workers; many shattered by what they had been through.

So many people in our little suburb turned out to bring food, cook, sort clothes and bedding, provide entertainment and distractions, and generally give assistance to the evacuees.

This was the biggest flooding event in our region for more than 100 years; one in which lives, homes and businesses were lost. Two-and-a-bit months on, and our district still has a long way to go.

While we no longer need to provide emergency housing, there are still many, many people struggling to put their lives back together – more than 800 homes are still ‘stickered’, meaning they either can’t be lived in at all, or can only be partly accessed.

We must continue to keep these people in our thoughts and prayers and help where we can.

Thank you Pā Harakeke; you make us all very proud!

Donnett Delow

Traci Tuimaseve

Co-chairs

Flaxmere Planning Committee