Cyclone Gabrielle

Nowhere to stay

If you urgently need somewhere to stay, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) can help. They have Civil Defence centres set up in cyclone affected areas. Go to their website to find one near you:

If you've had to evacuate and need accommodation, you can register with the Temporary Accommodation Service (TAS). You can do this online on the Temporary Accommodation Service website, or call them on 0508 754 163. They will contact you within 2 working days to understand your needs. Please note, if you have to pay towards the cost of accommodation from TAS, you can't get a Civil Defence payment to help pay for this.

If you need immediate accommodation, go to a Civil Defence centre and they will help you until TAS contacts you.

Paying for accommodation costs

We can't help you find accommodation. But once you've found somewhere to stay, we may be able to help pay your accommodation costs if:

• you've had to leave your home and need help to pay accommodation costs, or
• you have evacuees staying with you in places such as a private home, marae or community centre.

Civil Defence payments are available to cover accommodation costs for people in certain areas who have been affected by Cyclone Gabrielle. If you meet the criteria, you can apply for this payment. If you have evacuees staying with you, they will need to apply for the payment and we'll pay the costs directly to you.

Civil Defence payments are available to cover food, bedding or clothing costs if yours has been damaged or destroyed by the cyclone. If you meet the criteria, you can apply for this payment.

You can also get food and fresh water from your local Civil Defence centre. Go to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) website to find one near you.

Civil Defence payments are available to cover loss of income if you can't work and you've lost income because either:

• you can't get to work
• your workplace is closed, or
• you need to stay with your family or whānau, e.g. to care for a child because their school is closed.

There are also other criteria you need to meet. If you meet all the criteria, you can apply for this payment.

If you have other urgent needs due to the cyclone, we may be able to help. We can help with things such as:

• refilling water tanks
• emptying septic tanks
• repairs or replacing appliances.

What you qualify for will depend on your situation and you may have to pay the money back.

Call us on 0800 400 100. We're open Monday to Friday from 8am-5pm, and on Saturday 8am-1pm.

There is a range of support available to help you and your business if you've been affected by Cyclone Gabrielle in Tairāwhiti or Hawke's Bay.

Read our factsheets in other languages or formats.

Other formats

Easy Read factsheet (PDF 1.4MB)

Large print factsheet (Word 367.07KB)

Other languages

Arabic (PDF 767.44KB)

Bislama (PDF 350.75KB)

Fijian (PDF 261.42KB)

Fijian-Hindi (PDF 285.67KB)

Hindi (PDF 287.46KB)

Khmer (PDF 712.55KB)

Persian (PDF 804.44KB)

Punjabi (PDF 271.87KB)

Samoan (PDF 262.04KB)

Simplified chinese (PDF 592.55KB)

Te Reo Maori (PDF 261.21KB)

Tongan (PDF 648.68KB)

Vietnamese (PDF 367.86KB)