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The Ōtaua community receives food and supplies after the area was hit by floods and Cyclone Gabrielle.
Children have been foraging for berries and drinking water from a creek in the flood-hit Far North, according to a resident and volunteers who brought supplies to the region.
Ōtaua resident Charmaine Peri Tarawa cried saying she starved for about a week as there was no food in the remote valley, southwest of Kaikohe.
“We just got the power back on Sunday. We only got to eat on Sunday, when whānau from Huntly brought some food up here.
“Children were fighting over blackberries. We slept on tarpaulin and used a tarpaulin as a blanket.”
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Aucklander Debbie Munroe said she witnessed the plight of “abandoned” communities first-hand in Ōtaua.
Getting clean water, food and essential supplies could still be difficult there, she said, more than a month after devastating floods hit the region, followed by Cyclone Gabrielle.
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Debbie Munroe runs Waka for Caring in Manurewa, south Auckland. She has dedicated 10 years to helping people in need.
Munroe, who took six car-loads of essential supplies to Ōtaua on Sunday, said people cried as soon as they saw them arrive.
“We were not prepared to see people [living with] no water, no food. The kids started crying when they saw blankets and pillows because they were using tarps.
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Children and their parents in Ōtaua with volunteers who supplied food and essential items on Sunday.
“Some houses did not have walls. Parts of the roof were missing in some houses.”
Tuakau resident Mily Rapana, who went to Ōtaua along with Munroe and other volunteers on Sunday, said many people in the community were without essential items, including food and water.
“They will feed all tamariki and kaumātua before themselves. There was limited power source and no gas to cook food. The area is too wet that there is no dry wood to light a fire.”
Munroe said she would visit the area soon with more supplies.
She has put up a post on Facebook to seek donations of items including torches, generators, water pumps, hammers, nails, water filters, baby food, nappies, gas bottles and petrol vouchers.
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Ōtaua residents receives food and supplies donated by Munroe and Rapana that came from families in Tuakau, Pukekohe, TeKohanga, Papakura, Huntly and Manurewa.
A Far North District Council representative said Ōtaua residents were urged to immediately contact Work and Income for urgent assistance.
“We also have the Mayoral Relief Fund that is providing assistance for those impacted by the cyclone.
“Records show that welfare packs containing food, water, and sanitary products were delivered to the Ōtaua community. Our records also show that we received calls from two residents requesting assistance. Welfare packs were delivered to those residents.”
The supplies donated by Munroe and Rapana came from families in Tuakau, Pukekohe, TeKohanga, Papakura, Huntly and Manurewa.
