Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Newsroom.co.nz
Newsroom.co.nz
National
Tom Kitchin

Cyclone Gabrielle: On the ground in Hawkes Bay

Newsroom journalist Bonnie Sumner in Meeanee, one of the worst affected areas of Napier. Photo: Tom Kitchin

Napier and Hastings are urban centres but the communities that surround them are rural. The bay area is renowned for its vineyards, orchards and farms. The impact of Cyclone Gabrielle on this highly productive land has been immense, and restoring these farming areas will take years.

Kev Mitchell from the Rural Support Trust gazes out onto the hills around State Highway 5.

He's looking at the damage from the catastrophic Cyclone Gabrielle which ripped apart much of Hawkes Bay.

"Well I know all of these landowners and farmers here personally and this is just soul destroying, seeing the way their farms and farm infrastructure has been wrecked," he says.

Kev Mitchell from the Rural Support Trust. Photo: Tom Kitchin

"It's pretty emotional stuff, there's often one or two lifetimes of work gone into getting these farms up to the standard they were in and in one 12-hour period they've been severely wrecked.

"Rural folk are pretty resilient, this is testing them to the max, we'll need all the support of their friends and neighbours and they are brilliant, they are already doing it. There's community hubs set up just to support each other because you won't get through this alone, this is going to be a really long road to recovery."

Eskdale winemaker Philip Barber is trying desperately to save his wines at the bottom of his building.

"We're going to have to need a lot of diggers in here, and bobcats," he says.

"All I'm doing is calm, coping with it, is looking at little at a time ... but it's going to be overwhelming. I'm amazed at how we've taken the full impact of this."

Destruction of homes and vehicles in the Esk Valley. Photo: Tom Kitchin

The bridge into the small community of Rissington has been smashed to smithereens and the community is having to ferry items across.

"We're running supplies, ferrying supplies with a small jet boat to the people that live on the other side, because there's no access from this end or the other end," resident Phil Blake says.

"We're good as gold ... luckily they had the boat, someone brought themselves a Christmas present I think and it's been amazing.''

Newsroom journalist Bonnie Sumner lives in Napier and has been covering the stories of the aftermath, while the same time being without power for days.

"We've moved through the first stage of being just in utter shock and devastation and now we're really in the mood where we just want to get everything done," she says as she describes the mood of the city.

"We want to clean up. There's just so many volunteers, everyone's pitching in and helping out, no matter what it is. Even the kids are getting involved, but we have to be a little bit careful about that because they need to make sure they're wearing masks and gloves now because of the toxic silt."

Hear more about how locals are managing the clean-up by listening to the full podcast episode.

You can find out how to listen to and follow The Detail here.  

You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.