Flash flooding, heavy rain and multiple large landslips hit the New Zealand East Coast of the North Island in January 2026, leaving many residents cutoff, without power and the ability to communicate by traditional means.
Civil Defence declared a local state of emergency, with Tairawhiti Emergency Management Office calling in AREC to support, by setting up hourly skeds with the remote EOCs (Emergency Operation Centre) for radio & welfare checks.
For some areas, radio was the only available technology to relay their community’s circumstances and needs.
The region was hit by Cyclone Gabrielle just three years prior, causing record levels of flooding for the area, fatalities, loss of internet and conventional telecommunications for days, with damages estimated to be in the billions. The topography of the East Coast and surrounding Gisborne area, in combination with climate change causing increasingly intense weather events, has made the region susceptible to slips and erosion risks. Since Gabrielle, two Winlink HF/VHF/UHF Radio Email Servers were constructed for Gisborne & Ruatoria with the assistance of InternetNZ.
This technology allows emails and welfare reports to be sent outside of the region when no internet exists. High Frequency (HF) technology is extremely reliable and requires no intermediate infrastructure. With advancements in data modes, messages can now be quickly and efficiently sent locally, nationally and even worldwide without relying on traditional terrestrial telecommunication infrastructure or satellites.
If you are interested in supporting AREC in severe weather events as a volunteer, please email enquiries@arec.nz or apply online https://arec.nz/join-us/
