Six weeks on from Cyclone Gabrielle, The Herald’s Andrew Ashton digs into just how much damage has been done to the region’s economy and how much it will 
take to recover . . .
 

Businesses and rural sector enterprises have been paid out almost $9 million in government relief aid but the sum is small compared to the scale of financial losses from Cyclone Gabrielle, which are estimated at $140 million and growing.
Surveys from both Ngati Porou and economic development agency Trust Tairāwhiti put on-farm damages alone at up to $76m.
The Tairwhiti Horticulture Cyclone Recovery Group last week put horticulture losses at $42m, with costs of silt removal from orchards and reinstatement yet to be calculated. The figures did not include LeaderBrand’s operations.
Trust Tairwāhiti’s preliminary assessment, conducted by survey, shows more than $20m was also lost in the general business sector.
As of March 20, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) confirmed 467 applications for business support had been approved from Tairāwhiti with $4.3m paid out. 
At that time more applications were still being processed.
Trust Tairāwhiti economic development general manager Richard Searle said that of 212 businesses surveyed, employing 2291 people, 37 percent were unable to work in the week following the cyclone.
“Thirty percent of businesses didn’t have insurance. Only 22 percent of businesses at the time had accessed Civil Defence payments. 
“The estimated cost to recover was over $20m.
“The biggest request across all businesses was for financial assistance.” 
The trust’s surveys showed hospitality and forestry had the most displaced workers, with 65 percent of forestry staff unable to work, and 44 percent of hospitality people unable to work.
Following a top-up of the funding for business support grants, the Government has now committed $50m to business aid in cyclone-affected regions.
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), meanwhile, has paid out about $4.6m to farms and rural operations here from its clean-up grants programme.
Nationwide, MPI had received 4236 applications and approved 2510 grants worth $28.8m to people in cyclone-affected areas. 
“Forty-five percent of the funding paid out has gone to sheep and beef farmers, 17 percent has been paid to orchardists and wine growers.
“The remaining funding has gone to dairy farmers, arable and vegetable growers,” an MPI spokesperson said.
“Forty-three percent had been paid out to farmers and growers in Hawke’s Bay, 16 percent to applicants from the Gisborne district, 19 percent in Northland, and the remainder to Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Waikato, Manawatu, Waikato and Wairarapa.”
Applications for the clean-up grants closed on March 20, but those in hard-to-reach areas have until April 3.
“We also had $4m in emergency funding to help rural communities with immediate recovery efforts. This targeted funding is to help with urgent primary sector needs that are not being met by other organisations.
“Over $3.1m had been committed to 14 projects. Those projects cover aerial surveys, mental wellbeing, recovery advice, logistics and transport, and reimbursement of the costs of urgent response activity. Seven further proposals are being assessed.”
Trust Tairāwhiti’s surveys show thousands of kilometres of fencelines damaged by landslides and floodwaters made up the bulk of on-farm losses, with one in four respondents not having any insurance. A total of 149 farms reported being affected.
The survey sets initial estimated damage costs at $36m, not including farms on the East Coast. 
Te Runanganui o Ngati Porou conducted its own survey and estimated damages at $30-$40m on top of the Trust Tairāwhiti survey results.
And the financial blows for the rural sector just keep on coming.
The New Zealand pip-fruit crop has been re-estimated after Cyclone Gabrielle had huge impacts in major growing areas on the east coast of the North Island.
The Tairāwhiti Horticulture Cyclone Recovery Group surveyed 85 percent of affected growers and estimates total forecast farm/orchard gate value of crop loss for Tairāwhiti exceeds $41.85m, with seasonal crops of tomatoes, sweetcorn, maize and squash hardest hit.
“About 44 percent of horticulture land has been severely affected in Tairāwhiti,” Mr Searle said. 
“Different crops have been affected in different ways, but generally it looks like 30-40 percent of horticulture products won’t be able to be harvested in 2023.
“The biggest challenge is finance, as many farmers borrow against the expected crops. When there is no crop, they are already in some form of debt — so taking additional finance is difficult for them. (The lack of) a single point of contact, regarding solutions and options is a frustration too. 
“In terms of government support, about 60 percent of horticulture businesses have accessed the $2000 silt and debris grant, with 70 percent of them receiving payment to date.
One business looking to recover costs is haulage firm Mainfreight.
Mainfreight NZ country manager Carl George said with access to Gisborne only available from the northern end and the southern route to Hawke’s Bay still closed with no real indication of when it might reopen, the firm had been forced to run “quite a bit” of extra distance and time.

“Certainly, drivers are having to do more to do the same tasks. For us as a business our key thing is that we have got back into consistent services but again, we have had to rearrange a whole lot of stuff across the network.
“The first thing we think about is our customers and how we can do it within the constants we have in front of us.
“We’ve been enduring costs since the roads closed and that was some weeks ago now. We have just gone to the market with a recovery plan up until the time the normal routes are open again, but there’s still some uncertainty when that will be so we had to seek some recovery (funding from the Government)ourselves.”
Mr George said there was no thought of exiting the Gisborne route.
“We will continue to service Gisborne as long as we have a road in — we’ll be coming in and going out. 
“The team have done a great job in getting things turned around and our team in Gisborne have been operating from when the weather event happened and will continue to supply product into Gisborne and from customers in Gisborne to the rest of the country regardless.”
He didn’t want to talk about the “unfortunate incident” where a Mainfreight truck got stuck using Wharekopae Road as an alternative route, blocking it for half a day.
Kiwifruit grower Seeka is still assessing the damage to its harvest.
“We anticipate that the full impact on the crops will remain unknown until the fruit is harvested,” chief executive Michael Franks said.
“Seeka’s core Bay of Plenty kiwifruit-growing region was spared the worst of the weather and was not materially impacted. The Hawke’s Bay, Gisborne, Coromandel and Kerikeri regions had varying degrees of impact, with Hawke’s Bay being worst hit. About 5 percent of Seeka’s kiwifruit supply is grown in the Hawke’s Bay region. 
“We will continue to assess the situation and will update the market if Seeka identifies a material loss.
“Harvest 2023 kiwifruit volumes are expected to be lower than 2022 due to an early season frost, variable bud break and the cyclone. Seeka’s response includes a reduction to the 2023 capital expenditure programme and reducing costs in line with the lower crop expectation.”
The Government has now introduced new legislation to remove unnecessary red tape, to ensure the recovery from Cyclone Gabrielle is streamlined and efficient. 
“For example, extending the period for a food business to renew its registration will mean that it can continue operating post the cyclone without impractical administrative deadlines to contend with,” Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty said.
“It’s important we enable communities to recover as quickly as possible after extreme weather events. These amendments will add certainty for businesses, help ensure food security by facilitating affected businesses to remain open throughout this uncertain period, and help local authorities make emergency repairs.” 
Cyclone Recovery Minister Grant Robertson said a month on from the national state of emergency being declared, the Government was moving away from the emergency response into the recovery phase. 
“We have worked alongside communities as we respond to this major event. 
“We have put in place a taskforce, led by Sir Brian Roche, which will ensure the recovery is also locally led and supported by central government.
“We have also established a Cyclone Recovery Unit in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to coordinate the work at a central government level.
“We are only just at the start of the recovery from these devastating weather events. 
“While we have already provided significant resources through the response, affected regions should rest assured that the Government will continue to work closely with them as the rebuild and recovery begins in earnest.”