By 1news.co.nz
Police have named five people who died in Hawke’s Bay in circumstances related to Cyclone Gabrielle.
Large parts of Hawke’s Bay struggled to communicate due to power outages in the cyclone’s aftermath. Travel between Hastings and Napier was compromised, roads and bridges were destroyed, and many homes and businesses were ruined in Gabrielles’ wake.
Some of these areas remain isolated weeks on.
A large number of cyclone-related recorded deaths and missing people reports were in the region, which suffered some of the worst of the cyclone’s destruction.
Brendan Lewis Miller, 43, was found deceased in Crownthorpe on February 18.
Ian McKenzie McLauchlan, 76, was found deceased in Waiohiki on February 17.
George Charles Luke, 65, died in hospital on February 16.
Helen Street, 86, died at her home in Onekawa on February 16.
And Shona Leslie Wilson, 58, was found deceased in Putorino on February 15.
Their deaths have all been referred to the coroner, police said.
The current death toll for Cyclone Gabrielle remains at 11, and the number of people still missing after the cyclone was last confirmed to be at 5 — although some of these people may be unwilling to engage with police.
