Cyclone Gabrielle: Many people afraid to go back home

• Cyclone Gabrielle struck the North Island of NZ last month.
• It killed more than 11,000 people.
• Many people are afraid to go back.

Cyclone Gabrielle struck the North Island of New Zealand last month, killing 11 people and uprooting at least 10,000 more. It has sparked a national conversation on climate change and the decision of whether to demolish or rebuild vulnerable dwellings.

“I don’t want to go back there,” said Amy Bowkett.

The mother of two resided in the worst-affected area by Cyclone Gabrielle, the Hawkes Bay region. Her house was entirely demolished when the Category 3 storm struck with wind gusts of up to 159 km/h (99 mph).

She endured a harrowing 48 hours stuck without electricity, running water, or phone service with 50 of her neighbors.

Finally, she was able to make a call, and a friend quickly arranged for a helicopter rescue from a backyard neighbor.

“I feel like if we get flooded a third time, it would be our fault,” she told the BBC from her mother’s home in the nearby city of Napier. “Unless we put our house on stilts, I’d be terrified every time it rained.”.

She is not the only one who fears going back. Many of the victims of New Zealand’s recent floods lost all of their goods in the disaster and fear the region their homes are built on has become too dangerous for them to go back.

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