Cyclone Gabrielle: Environment Centre Hawke’s Bay helps thousands affected by devastation

Environment Centre Hawke’s Bay volunteers working hard to get supplies out to those affected by Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / Ian Cooper

Once the devastation of Cyclone Gabrielle was clear, the Environment Centre Hawke’s Bay jumped in and started working out how they could help those impacted.

The Environment Centre, based in Hastings, has been doing everything it can to “awhi and support” those affected, by co-ordinating meals, food, clothing, bedding, medications, satellite links and generators to those in need.

Now, as the demand for emergency response has diminished, the ongoing need will be transitioned to Environment Centre’s partner, Nourished for Nil, to facilitate.

Environment Centre Hawke’s Bay co-chair Sarah Walker is concerned there’s more work to do and much more funding needed to keep the wheels of the Environment Centre’s response turning.

”It’s normal for fatigue to set in, and for news organisations to turn to other stories in other areas, but just because the spotlight will eventually flick off doesn’t mean the work isn’t ongoing, in fact, it’s only just beginning,” Walker said.

She said as a consequence, her charity is no longer seeking offers of essentials but will continue to collect donations through the Environment Centre’s Givealittle page so that its enormous effort can continue, funding the community’s constantly evolving needs.

So far Environment Centre’s response to Cyclone Gabrielle has blown away even its own CEO, Emma Horgan-Heke, who said she estimates tens of thousands of people have been touched by the relief efforts of the centre’s volunteers, in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle.

“We immediately put a call out for volunteers and goods donations and had an amazingly fast reaction from the community. Hundreds of wonderful volunteers turned up and quality clothing and household items, kai, toys and bedding were donated,” Horgan-Heke said.

People came from all around the country to process donations, dig out silt, clean up roads, get goods into hard-to-reach areas, evacuate people and animals, and care for the displaced.

“This has shown me how resilient and incredible people in Hawke’s Bay and across Aotearoa are,” the Environment Centre CEO said.

With the help of hundreds of volunteers the centre has facilitated and delivered thousands of hot meals each day, supported 28 community hubs with their essential needs, and driven, flown, rowed, helicoptered and trucked in support of rural communities, including thousands of newly homeless people.

Horgan-Heke explained the centre has been able to do what they have done thanks only to other organisations and businesses around the rohe partnering with them.

“We’ve had such an outpouring of support I won’t be able to name everyone, but I want to acknowledge Nourished for Nil, Craggy Range, Beard Brothers, Detpak, the local Sikh community, and TUMU who have helped provide warm meals to those for whom cooking just wasn’t an option,” she said.

Environment Centre Hawke’s Bay’s usual kaupapa is educating and empowering communities to create a resilient and regenerative Hawke’s Bay and was best known for its innovative recycling initiative, taking everything from soft plastics to batteries to Tetrapaks and diverting them from landfill.

”For the future, we’ve developed a strategy that brings together our community and our vision of a Hawke’s Bay with resilient, connected communities, regenerative food systems, thriving biodiversity, and a circular economy.

“We’re reviewing the impact the cyclone has had on our long-term strategic focus priorities and bringing a stronger te ao Māori view,” Walker said.

Walker’s co-chair Jo Heperi said the Environment Centre was here for the long run, to be an advocate for the environment and future generations.

“We want to be a voice for te taiao and our mokopuna, we’re seeing short-term thinking from the region’s leaders with a focus on ‘building back better’ and wealth accumulation, with little regard for environmental limits and the impacts on future generations,” Heperi said.

“The cyclone has shown us what our future with a changing climate could look like, and we need to come together as a community to reimagine what our future could be, committing to a climate-ready Hawke’s Bay with resilient and sustainable communities, where people can lean on each other for energy, goods and transport, rather than rely on larger towns and cities.”

”Getting our region back on its feet is no quick fix, but we have the awareness, the expertise and the dedication to help our communities become more resilient as we move forward into repairing and rebuilding our beautiful Hawke’s Bay,” Heperi said.