Civil Defence

Be ready, stay informed. Know what to do. If life or property is at risk, call 111 immediately.

Be alert for slips and landslides

Landslide safety: what to watch for and what to do

Keep an eye out for early warning signs around your home. Contact us if you notice any of the following:

• Small slips, rock falls or sinking ground at the bottom of slopes
• Doors or windows starting to stick or gaps appearing around frames
• Steps, decks or verandas tilting or pulling away from the house
• New cracks or bulges in the ground, retaining walls or other hard surfaces
• Trees, retaining walls or fences leaning or tilting.

If a landslide is happening - or you think one might happen:

• Get out of the way immediately
• Evacuate - take your grab bag and pets if you can do so quickly
• Warn neighbours and help others if it’s safe to do so

Report issues

• If life or property is at risk - call 111 immediately.

For customer service:

• ph: 0800 653 800 24/7

Rainfall, rivers, roads and subscribe to text alerts

Stay up to date on weather and roads

Latest MetService weather alerts, state highway and local road conditions. For our Local Road Information

Emergency status and what the warnings mean

Stay informed and prepared. Here's what each status or warning level means:

MetService severe weather warnings

Issued when MetService alerts us to severe weather for heavy rain, strong wind or heavy snow. The levels:

• 🟡 Weather Watch (Yellow) – stay alert, be prepared.
• 🟠 Weather Warning (Orange) – take action.
• 🔴 Red Warning – take immediate action, act now

Alert or Activated

Civil Defence has been alerted to a possible situation and is monitoring and gathering information. This may be triggered by:

• MetService - event has started
• Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences
• Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management
• Other systems such as telemetry, flood warnings

Declared emergency

A local state of emergency declared under section 68 or section 69 of the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002. This applies when a situation:

• results from a natural or man-made event  (eg. earthquake, eruption, tsunami, land movement, flood, storm, tornado, epidemic, technological failure)
• may cause loss of life, injury, illness, distress or endanger public safety or property
• requires a significant and coordinated response beyond emergency services and under the Act.

State of national emergency

Declared under Section 66 of the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002. This applies when a situation affects the whole country or requires national-level coordination.

Be ready for any disaster

Emergencies can happen anytime - are you prepared?

You should be able to cope on your own for at least 5 days. Here's a basic guide to what you'll need:

• An emergency plan - where to meet family and how to contact one another if separated.
• Prepare a grab bag of essential items.
• Enough food in your home to last 5 days.
• Know where to get water, if your usual supply is not available.
• Alternative lighting - a torch with spare batteries or a wind up one, gas lantern or light-sticks.
• Battery operated or wind up radio and spare batteries - don't forget your car radio as a last resort.
• First aid kit, make sure it includes any essential medications.
• Blankets, survival blankets or warm waterproof clothing.
• Alternative cooking methods, BBQ or gas cooker.
• Store important family documents where you can get them easily.

For more information check the Get Ready website

Listen to your radio

Tune into one of the radio stations

Our emergency channels

• Tairāwhiti Civil Defence Facebook
• Gisborne District Council Facebook
• Antenno app for alerts and notices
• Subscribe to text alerts (scroll up the page).

Mayoral Relief Fund

Support for flood and landslide-affected households

Distribution of the Mayoral Relief Fund is being prioritised for property owners whose homes were issued a red or yellow placard following the severe weather event on 21-22 January.

Phase 1: automatic payments for property owners

A one-off payment will be made to property owners of red and yellow-stickered homes. Payment amounts:

• Red stickered homes: up to $10,000
• Yellow stickered homes: $2,000

Eligible owners should contact us now to confirm details and begin the payment process. 
Email: mayoral.fund@gdc.govt.nz or phone: 0800 653 800.

Phase 2: assistance for owners and tenants

Additional financial assistance is available for owners or tenants who were living in a home that was red or yellow‑stickered. This funding requires an application from eligible households. Support available includes:

• An initial payment of around $2,000 per household, and
• A top‑up of up to $3,000 (up to $5,000 in total) for households facing serious hardship or who have lost essential household items.

To apply, please complete the Tairāwhiti Mayoral Relief Fund application form and return it to: email mayoral.fund@gdc.govt.nz