What a relief for all

MELANIE VERRAN

An air force relief mission to the Cook Islands turned into a tsunami patrol when reporter Melanie Verran and photographer Jason Oxenham joined 40 Squadron’s Hercules crew to distribute emergency supplies to Rarotonga and Penrhyn atoll.

Barefoot kids put their fingers in their ears as they watch a C130 Hercules come in to land.

The entire Omoka village on the remote storm-ravaged Cook Islands northern atoll of Penrhyn has turned out to welcome the Royal New Zealand Air Force crew.

In the Hercules is a generator, tarpaulins, ropes, ladders, food and building supplies – basic necessities that will help return life to normal.

Song so heartfelt it almost drowns out the roar of the plane leaves no doubt as to the islanders’ gratitude.

With limited time visiting media and officials from Rarotonga are whisked away to inspect the damage caused when a storm brought torrential rain and extreme winds to the vulnerable island last month.

Penrhyn acting island secretary Andrew Vaeau had never seen anything like it.

"We experienced very strong winds and torrential rain of the kind none of us have experienced before," he says.

"You can only imagine the devastation when the storm hit us."

While it later reached cyclone status, it was only considered a tropical depression when it tore roofs off homes and schools.

The sea rose and flooded 40 metres past the high-tide mark.

Mr Vaeau says the ocean was "bubbling up from the road" and people feared the entire island would be swallowed.

The landscape has been changed forever, he says.

"The foreshore was land only a few days ago. Many locals are seriously considering relocating to safer havens like New Zealand and Australia."

Much of the debris had been cleared but until the aid arrived there were no materials to make repairs.

The atoll – a three-hour flight from Rarotonga – is home to fewer than 200 people. Ships and aircraft are infrequent.

 

Residents fish to feed their families but with little fertile land for crops they rely on Rarotonga for staples like flour, sugar, rice and diesel.

 

The crew unloaded in sweltering heat.

"It was freakin’ hot," says aircraft mechanic Christopher Els. "I enjoyed helping out though. It was for a good cause."

The South African-born man says the relief effort made him proud of being a "new Kiwi".

Loadmaster sergeant Destry Tumataiki was happy to see the locals mucking in to help. "They were really grateful and they just kept asking if they could send some people and freight back to Rarotonga with us."

Getting supplies to Penrhyn is a huge task. Red Cross and NZ Aid workers scoured Auckland for the required goods.

The air force team spent hours packing at Whenuapai and then unpacking and repacking on the ground in Rarotonga.

Flight intelligence officers at Whenuapai downloaded satellite images of Penrhyn’s crushed coral runway so the pilots could prepare for a rough landing, and Penrhyn locals were asked to cut coconut trees to give the Hercules more clearance on the runway.

Captain Gareth Russell says the weather and risk factors in landing on a rarely-used and unfamiliar runway kept the crew on their toes.

What those in the belly of the giant plane don’t
realise is that their pilot has narrowly avoided Cyclone Sarah but still flew close enough to collect 2.5cm of ice in 35 seconds.

On the ground the engines are kept running for the two hours it takes to off-load the gear to eliminate the risk of the engines not starting again.

Mr Russell says humanitarian relief is one of the best parts of his job.

"When you can help out it’s awesome. And you know you’re helping out just by virtue of what we’re doing," he says.

"It’s always surprising to see how many of these isolated communities there are."

The lucky few manage to get some rest on the flight back.

In Rarotonga that evening the crew is told it’s going back to Penrhyn with more supplies and a doctor.

But changes are so common the crew says it’s
unusual when things go to plan.

There’s proof of that at 5am when everyone is woken up and told to be downstairs in 15 minutes because there is a tsunami warning for the Cook Islands after Chile’s earthquake.

Locals and tourists go to high land. The crew goes even higher – returning to the airport, fuelling the Hercules and taking off to patrol the coast to provide early warnings of any ocean changes, circling the island many times.

With the tsunami expected at 8.15am it’s comforting to be airborne at 7.30am. It’s also impossible not to spare a thought for those back on Penrhyn, where the highest point is just 5 metres above sea level.

Thankfully the risk passes by 9am and an hour later it’s breakfast by the sea.

The return to Penrhyn is aborted and the crew catches up on some sleep or checks out the island by scooter.

The final day takes the Hercules out to Aitutaki to collect a team of army
engineers helping rebuild after Cyclone Pat, then back to Rarotonga to clear customs.

A six-hour flight to Ohakea is needed to get the army boys home before the final trip to Whenuapai.

For the media on the mission it is all a rare adventure. To the air force crew it’s just another day in the office.

- © Fairfax NZ News