There for the People

Farmlands Wairoa | Bridge Street & Mahia Avenue, Wairoa 4108 | Phone: 06 838 7209

Quick thinking and pallets of potting mix were the saviour for Farmlands Wairoa during Cyclone Gabrielle.
The store, on the corner of Mahia Ave and Bridge Street, sustained some flooding, but a prompt response by manager Jason McNabb, staff and helpers saw damage minimised.

Jason said the staff hadn’t long been at work when they saw the water coming down Crarer Street and towards Farmlands. Soon after, it was in the farm supply yard.
“We closed all the doors and, using two pallets of potting mix that we had in stock, pushed the bags against every door to try to keep the water out.

“Water still slowly seeped in and reached about four inches inside the store, but we kept most of it out. From inside the store, we looked out through the windows, and the flooding was eye level, and people were outside on jetskis and boats. It was like looking into an aquarium.”

With the forklift covered by water in the outside yard, the team lifted everything they could off the floor. “We had a lot
of community support, the team from Pryde Contracting helped us lift stock up high, there was a real community effort.
“By the time the flood waters started to subside, we opened our big doors, and the water just started flowing out, and we cleaned up the rest with squeegee mops that we had in store.

“All we lost was a pair of socks and a kids’ shirt - because they fell off the shelf and into the water.”
Jason said the immediate need was obvious and getting their business back open so they could help the community was the aim.
“People needed supplies, but we couldn’t run transactions without power, so we started a ledger book and ran a trust system for four days.” Jason says everyone who ticked up supplies returned and paid for their gear.
While reopening on a limited basis to support the community was a priority, it took around five days for the store to be completely cleaned up.

“Being able to open up the store so quickly was great. People needed supplies but they also needed to chat, and tell their stories, we became a bit of a hub. People were in shock and needed somewhere to go.”
While Farmlands was there for the local community, it was also supportive from a national perspective. Farmlands ran a massive fundraiser where farmers and suppliers made donations, and Farmlands also had input, with $2.1 million raised, which was then donated through products back to affected people.

“I never expected to see a flood of this magnitude. Even when we saw the river coming down the road, I didn’t expect it would get into the building. Our staff were amazing, everyone just pulled together and worked hard to get us cleaned up and operational again. It was a massive undertaking.”

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