Cyclone affected farmers grateful for support

Anna and Nick Dinneen, who farm sheep and beef in Puketitiri about 50 kilometers northwest of Napier, woke up on February 14 to the ominous sounds of rushing water and rocks rumbling down the nearby hillsides.

"It was like having the Waikato River suddenly emerge on your farm; the roar was pretty sobering," Anna says.

"It was just incredible, the slips were everywhere, all the fences were washed out, it was pretty surreal really,” Nick adds.

They still had cell coverage and as the morning went on, the couple received the alarming news that many bridges in the region had been washed away.

Access to their property became impossible after an embankment was scoured away by the river. Beyond that, Rissington bridge, on the main route between Puketitiri and Napier, was completely washed away.

Isolated on their farm, the couple began the daunting task of trying to assess the damage – nothing short of a disaster.

Animals were washed away, about 20km of fencing was lost, and slips had come down across almost every track on their property.

“Yeah … it is challenging, after a storm like Gabrielle. It really knocks you back, and you think, ‘oh God, what do I do first, and how do we get through it?’” Nick says.

For the next three weeks the couple would be totally isolated on their farm and were cut off from town for about two months. Across the region, as people were coming to terms with the scale of the damage, plans were being made to get relief to people like the Dinneens.

As well as support from government agencies, including Civil Defence and the Red Cross, organisations like The Evergreen Foundation were swinging into action.

The Evergreen Foundation Trustee and Tumu Group managing director John O’Sullivan says a $100,000 initial relief fund was created the first weekend after Gabrielle, targeting the horticultural and agricultural sectors. A cross-sector industry panel was also established to manage the allocation of the funds.

“We quickly realised there were a lot of cut-off communities, so initially we were co-ordinating the gathering of things they needed, and getting it flown into those areas,” O’Sullivan explains.

At first, that included helicopter and fixed-wing flights, carrying supplies like fuel, pet food, satellite phones, groceries and farming gear – even the occasional box of beer.

He says the Evergreen board was always conscious that their efforts should complement those of Civil Defence and Red Cross, rather than overlap them.

As the relief fund grew, with donations from many different organisations and businesses, the scope of the relief they could offer widened.

On top of providing food and supplies to isolated residents, they also helped fund security systems for a community concerned about looting, as well as supporting many community events, which helped those communities come together and support each other.

The Foundation also helped ensure students could continue their education, by giving boarding schools funding to sort out logistics for affected pupils.

A property engulfed in silt near the Rissington Bridge, after flooding during Cyclone Gabrielle.

It also supported Hawke’s Bay Clean-Up teams, that were out removing silt from inundated properties, and donated fencing gear to farmers to help them get back on track.

O’Sullivan says Evergreen has a particular focus on the agricultural and horticultural sectors. In the weeks following Gabrielle, it realised the need for a programme to help growers retrieve and clean their unsanitary silt-covered produce bins, which were scattered across neighbouring properties. Evergreen’s bin programme has so far collected, cleaned and returned 11,000 bins free of charge, with many more to go.

“They were long days for the team, but satisfying – because you knew there was a need, and as a part of the community, you know there’s a time to stand up.”

Back in Puketitiri, the Dinneens say those flights, and the constant checking in with them, made them feel a lot better about their situation.

“I would say, in the first five days, we had more choppers in here than we had cars in the previous five years,” Anna says.

One of the larger donations to Evergreen’s relief fund was made by ANZ New Zealand, which gave an initial donation of $550,000.

Those funds came from the $3 million ANZ pledged to support horticulture and agriculture groups, businesses and Iwi organisations with the response and recovery following Cyclone Gabrielle.

Chief executive Antonia Watson says as New Zealand’s largest bank, ANZ recognised the need to step up and help Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti communities when they needed it most.

“No one knows their region better than locals, so when we were choosing where to donate, we were really mindful of that,” she says. “After seeing what The Evergreen Foundation has accomplished, and continues to accomplish in Hawke’s Bay and Tairawhiti, we couldn’t be happier.”

Tumu Group Managing Director and The Evergreen Foundation Trustee John O'Sullivan, centre, with Michelle O'Sullivan, left, and Tumu Transport Manager Bevan Hall.

The Evergreen Foundation trustee Brendan O’Sullivan says ANZ’s donation couldn’t have come at a better time, as when it came through, the amount of funding available was beginning to dip.

“We’re incredibly thankful to all of those people and organisations who have donated funds, and we’re really proud to have been able to coordinate that relief,” Brendan said.

For those on the receiving end, sometimes it can be unclear exactly where the help is coming from, but as the Dinneens say, it is always appreciated.

“You never really knew who had funded it, whether it was Red Cross or Civil Defence or some other private funder - but if anyone ever gets the chance to donate to something like that, just know that there are people out there on the receiving end, and they are really, really grateful.

“It was very good community support – people looking after one another.”