Cyclone Gabrielle: Supplies worth estimated $100k flown from Rotorua to flood-affected areas

Supplies estimated to be worth more than $100,000 were flown from Rotorua to flood-affected areas over the weekend to help those who had “lost everything”.

Mattresses, clothing, baby formula, linen, shovels, gumboots and a generator were among the items collected in a “combined effort” from the Waiariki Women’s Refuge Rotorua, Rotorua Whakaora and Rotorua Aero Club.

On Saturday, two flights went to Napier, and on Sunday, three flights went to Napier and two to Wairoa. Five more flights are expected to fly down this week.

Waiariki Women’s Refuge Rotorua director Sarah Small said she called the Hawke’s Bay refuge last week asking what supplies they needed after Cyclone Gabrielle. They said they needed a generator.

Her husband, Jason Small, is a pilot at the Rotorua Aero Club, and she asked him if he could fly the generator down.

Seven flights flew from Rotorua to Napier and Wairoa on the weekend with supplies.

Meanwhile, Sarah also saw a message from Rotorua Whakaora, who had put a call out for planes going to Hawke’s Bay.

The three entities organised flights and supplies, with the Rotorua Trust also donating $1000 to the cause.

“We couldn’t have done this without each other ... it was a combined effort.”

Sarah said the pilots would keep flying “for as long we have donations coming in” and expected there to be five flights this week, mostly to Wairoa.

She said people in Hawke’s Bay had “lost everything” and needed items such as baby food, formula, linen, shovels and gumboots.

Supplies being loaded at Rotorua Airport. Photo / Supplied

Rotorua Whakaora general manager Elmer Peiffer said he was contacted by Small, who told them they could fly to Hawke’s Bay with supplies.

He told her: “Well, if you can get in there, we’ll get you the supplies.”

“The partnership has just bloomed from there.”

Peiffer said some supplies were directly from Rotorua Whakaora, “but a lot of it is from the Rotorua community itself”.

“Everything from water, nappies, clothing - all the things that they’re needing over there. And with Waiariki Women’s Refuge Rotorua and the Aero Club, they’ve been able to send flights over with what we’ve been able to give them to take into Hawke’s Bay and other affected areas.”

Rotorua Whakaora received a donation of mattresses and clothing from SuperFurn.

Peiffer said Nourished for Nil in Hawke’s Bay - another food rescue organisation - had been supporting them for years.

“Every week we would go down there, they would supply us with tons of food to bring back to Rotorua to give out to the Rotorua community.

“So, when this happened, it’s like we have to do something to show them the love, that it’s not a one-sided thing - we will do everything we can to help from our end as well.”

Peiffer estimated at least $100,000 worth of supplies had been sent down. It had also received a “huge” donation of mattresses and clothing from SuperFurn, which was loaded onto a convoy and taken down to Wairoa on Sunday.

Jason Small said the army was taking care of supplies arriving in Wairoa, and Air Napier was unloading the supplies and making sure they got to the right people at Napier Airport.

Asked to describe the damage in the areas, he said on the Wairoa coast “all you can see is slash from the trees”.

“Slash is just being washed down from the hills. It’s gone out through the Wairoa River, and you can just imagine all that stuff on the way down, what it’s taking out.

“It’s blocking out the estuaries ... and that’s caused the flooding. And that stuff carries a bit of weight, so it’s knocking out the bridges that connect remote communities together as well and has taken the roads away.”

In Hawke’s Bay, Jason said: “Eskdale, pretty much, is just all brown. It’s certainly been underwater.”

“The amount of slips that you see from trees and everything that has given way on the hillsides, it’s hugely scarred.

“At the same time, it’s quite nice to see communities coming together. It gives you faith in humanity again.”