Well, where to even start… In an early- February EDM editorial, I wrote of the need for resilience to be engineered into New Zealand’s roading infrastructure after the impact on the northern parts of the country by Cyclone Hale in mid-January and the week of heavy rain that followed Auckland Anniversary weekend. With the country’s northern regions still summing up the damage, Cyclone Gabrielle arrived and, within four days, wrought all kinds of havoc on the North Island’s inhabitants.

Other than the comparatively huge scale of devastation left in Gabrielle’s wake, a notable difference between the two extreme weather events were the responses. Following the week of continual rain, flooding and slips, there was a widespread call for government action into investment and resilience engineering of the country’s roading and transportation infrastructure. I also made those calls in that EDM editorial, and I stand by them as much as ever.

Gabrielle, though, was a different beast. Yes, whole regions were entirely cut off due to slips, fallen trees and road damage and yes, that need for investment and resilience remains firm – but there was a wholly different mood in the weeks following Gabrielle. The widespread impact on people’s lives and livelihoods was undoubtedly the bigger story.

The numbers, tolls and costs were frightening, but given the fast-changing nature of the event, any stats published as I write this will have changed by the time you read it – hopefully for the better in as many instances as possible. There have been so many updates and reports and so much analysis and commentary over the days that it’s all a bit overwhelming, but a few things have stood out.

The human and community spirit has been heartening and uplifting to behold in times of tragedy. From single, similarly affected individuals to widespread community drives, South Island entities sending supplies, and many more besides… In the same breath, the heroic, tireless effort by the responders and search and rescue teams – many of whom as we know are volunteers – and international assistance… It’s amazing how nature has a way of reminding humanity what’s really important. When the clean-up efforts began, leadership and determination came to the fore, especially among private enterprise. Some stories we’ve heard of affected operators in our own industry have once again illustrated the steely resolve of New Zealand’s road transport sector.

Then, the effort by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency and its contractors to reopen affected sections of road and restore access to stricken communities as quickly as possible is nothing short of praiseworthy. Within days, the agency had reopened half of the more than 30 individual sections of affected state highway in the North Island – likewise, the various utility providers with the mammoth task of restoring power and telecommunications infrastructure. Unfortunately, here I must mention the added struggle these entities have faced by a good-for- nothing element of society who see opportunity in adversity for nothing but personal gain. There have been reports of opportunistic looting, stolen generators, and roadworkers having firearms pointed at them – it’s pathetic and appalling, and that’s all I’ll say about it now.

Moving on, it’s also been encouraging to see Chris and Christopher aligned on the need for increased infrastructure investment and the rebuilding of transport infrastructure with the resilience to withstand similar extreme weather events. While each will undoubtedly be managing their response to the situation with 14 October in mind, I sincerely hope Gabrielle’s aftermath is enough to turn these comments into real commitment. Despite costs expected to be “in the $13 billion region”, Finance Minister Grant Robertson’s words have been similarly aligned, so let’s see.

If now’s not the time, then when?