Cyclone Gabrielle: Dad digs to reach 5-year-old daughter’s grave buried under 16 feet of silt after calamity
RISSINGTON, NEW ZEALAND: Cyclone Gabrielle forced a father to endure the same heartbreaking process, which he suffered over two decades ago after losing his first child. Peter Lafferty’s daughter Sarah was reportedly only five when she died in November 2001 because of pneumonia.
She was put to rest at a local cemetery in Rissington. But after the natural disaster, her father had to dig the burial again since the cyclone resulted in the heaviness of the Mangaone River, submerging the graveyard in 16 feet of silt, the NZ Herald reported. Lafferty said, “I never thought I’d have to do this again.”
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‘Heartbreaking' devastation
The 59-year-old man called the devastation due to the natural calamity “heartbreaking.” Also, witnessing the condition of the cemetery left him disturbed as he told the publication, “Heartbreaking, for all the other people too who may have trouble trying to find [people].”
Lafferty stated that he had to take the soldiers’ help because of the heavy work the cyclone has left behind. “It’s hard standing here looking down there. It brings back the whole lot really, puts a lump in your throat,” he explained, who reportedly had to work for five days before he found his daughter’s final resting place.
‘I think of her every day’
The grieving father shared that his daughter, Sarah, was born in June 1996 after her mother, fortunately, survived pre-eclampsia, which can be severely dangerous for a pregnant woman and her baby. Due to the condition, the little one was without oxygen inside her mother’s womb for over 40 minutes and as a result, she was born with cerebral palsy.
Despite doctors’ prediction that Sarah would not be able to live, she survived for five and a half years. Lafferty reportedly noted, “I think of her every day as it is anyway, but stronger now that I’m here all the time,” before adding, “[The cyclone has] basically changed the landscape forever ... it’s quite devastating. It’s a mammoth task, I didn’t think I’d have to be moving all this dirt again, but never mind, someone’s got to do it.”
‘The impact is significant'
Meanwhile, the state of emergency has been increased by the government of New Zealand in the wake of the disaster that reportedly claimed the lives of 11 people. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said, “Cyclone Gabrielle is the most significant weather event New Zealand has seen in this century. The severity and the damage that we are seeing have not been experienced in a generation. We are still building a picture of the effects of the cyclone as it continues to unfold. But what we do know is the impact is significant and it is widespread.”
Besides, National Party leader Christopher Luxon reportedly mentioned, “If you're a climate change denier at the moment or even a minimalist, I just don't understand how you can hold that position, to be honest. There'll be many governments over the next few decades and it's important that we develop a framework to say well how are we going to deal with what is a very complex issue? There's a lot of complexity to work through as we think about actually strengthening our infrastructure so that we can adapt to climate change.”