The Rasmussen family in Mangere are bracing for the worst as Cyclone Gabrielle moves closer.
Not only did they lose everything they own in the Auckland floods just over a fortnight ago, on the same day they lost a son and a brother.
Mum Shirley says she found out her son had died when they got to the hospital and then she had to go home to waist-high floods.
“That broke me,” she said.
As the rain builds providers and charities are run off their feet, Cyclone Gabrielle adding to already big social problems.
Dave Letele from community group BBM is one of them receiving hundreds of calls for help overnight. Today he took furniture and mattresses to the Rasmussen family and will be checking in with them as the cyclone builds.
“Very worried,” he told 1News “because it’s more and more pressure on these families, more pressure on services like us”.
He says he’s been preparing food parcels for evacuation and Civil Defence centres after getting a call saying there were no supplies.
“It makes me upset because how has it been left to community groups to do that these are official Civil Defence sites so what’s going on, where’s the communication and where’s the money,” he said.
The Government has today announced an $11.5 million community support package including $1 million to top up food banks, $4 million for providers and $2 million for community groups to support flood response.
That’s welcome news for those working at grass roots level like South Seas Healthcare, which has sent out teams into the community checking in to their patients who are unable to get help during this bad weather.
Irata Passi, clinical lead at South Seas, says her team are doing medical checks including medication and taking supplies.
“Our patients can't reach out to the clinic, they can't bring their family, their elderly people in the clinic for checkup so that’s why our team comes out here,” she said.
And help much needed for those who need it most.
SHARE ME