Cyclone Gabrielle puts the squeeze on Tūrangi Foodbank

Te Paea Waipouri (left) and Maggie Stewart from Tūrangi Foodbank and Kiso Eti and Anne Terry from The Lines Company. Photo / Supplied

Tūrangi Foodbank has received a welcome donation from The Lines Company (TLC) in the form of a month worth of supplies, to be distributed among the community following Cyclone Gabrielle.

Foodbank chairwoman Maggie Stewart, was grateful for the much-needed boost to their store cupboard following the severe weather event.

“There’s been a big increase in demand for our service in the community since the cyclone hit. A lot of whānau have returned to Tūrangi from the Hawke’s Bay, putting additional pressure on households, so it’s incredible TLC has brought food into Tūrangi to support those in need.

“We’ll be repackaging a lot of the groceries donated to ensure they stretch as far as possible while the need is so high.”

The Tūrangi Foodbank operates from the Senior Citizens Hall, Te Kapua Park on weekdays from 10am-3pm. Anyone in need of food assistance should contact them by calling 0800 926 040 or emailing turangifoodbank@gmail.com

Anne Terry, TLC’s customer and community engagement manager, arranged for $5000 in supplies to be personally delivered to the community cause.

“Our role in the community extends past the lines and cables which feed electricity into the region. We’re here to grow communities with energy and help people thrive by supporting communities in need.

“We do this through financial support, like this, and our community sponsorship rounds – as well as through the supply of electricity to ensure homes and businesses can continue to operate.”

TLC’s electricity infrastructure in parts of the Tūrangi area was devastated with a forest block in Motuoapa clocking winds at more than 180km/h as Cyclone Gabrielle cut its path, just one of several sites where flying trees cleaned out power lines and poles.

Since then, the electricity distribution business has been working to replace 60 poles and an estimated 7km of power lines. At the peak of the storm, more than 4000 of its customers were affected after its three high voltage lines in National Park, Lake Taupō, Tūrangi and Tokaanu were all damaged.

Up until a few weeks ago, the network was running with the support of three diesel generators supplying about 800 customers. Those customers have now been reconnected to the network.

The company has identified 15 major rebuild projects directly stemming from the cyclone. The cost of repairs, while not on the scale of what has been seen in around Napier and Wairoa, will still be substantial and there would be an inevitable knock-on effect as planned line renewals and other maintenance programmes need to be pushed out into coming years.