Meet Richard Hsieh Our Very Own Local Hero!

Richard is a Building Control Officer here at the Grey District Council.

Richard was deployed on 7 February, by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to support the Auckland Flood Response. Initially, he was expecting to be away for a week, but he ended up staying for 10 days.

It was a very eventful 10 days!

On arrival, Richard was tasked to assist the Welfare Team to find emergency accommodation for displaced and/or evacuated people. He then he spent time working in Operations assisting with “Curb to Truck” which means removal of flood waste from properties. He then assisted in the organisation of the Windsor Park Sandbagging location. Following this, Richard’s Building Control skills were utilised when he joined the Rapid Building Assessment Teams. These teams would assess damaged properties and decide if they were safe to occupy. A white sticker meant it was safe to return, yellow meant it was ok to enter but you could not stay, and a red sticker meant it was a complete no-go zone and unsafe to enter. He also assisted other agencies in the evacuation of the historical Shot Tower prior to Cyclone Gabrielle. This building was deemed unsafe and at risk of collapse, it is surrounded by apartment buildings which all needed to be evacuated as a precaution. Thankfully the tower did not collapse, and all the residents got to return home.

There was also a demand for multiple language speakers in high non-English-speaking areas. Richard was a great asset up there with his Mandarin.

Richard said “being involved with an event like this was a valuable experience, it was an opportunity to grow my skills. It would help me prepare and be better equipped should a similar event happen here on the coast. Nothing beats real-life experience and I’m very grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the recovery response.”

Thank you very much for putting your hand up to help out Richard, it’s great to know that there are people like you ready and willing to step up and help those in need.

Check out the photos on Facebook showing some scenes from his deployment.