Stu Halpin of Wairoa Motorcycles is making the best of a bad situation as he rebuilds from the damage caused by Cyclone Gabrielle flooding.
More than 600 hours have been spent cleaning up and hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to stock and the building has been recorded.
On the morning of February 14, Stu and his team watched the river cross Carroll Street and head towards the business based in the old Wairoa Dairy Factory on Mahia Avenue.
“We started lifting stock in the showroom, trying to get it to high ground, and then realised water was coming in from the back as well.”
In the end, a significant amount of the business was affected by flooding with water sitting just under the showroom floor level, and flooding the parts department and old dairy factory storage area with only the workshop high and dry.
Four to six weeks after the event Wairoa Motorcycles was functioning again but only operating at minimal capacity.
“We decided to make the best of a bad situation and are revamping the showroom, which will see more focus on the Mahia Ave frontage. We are doing the showroom work in two halves so we can still function from a basic level.”
Stu reflects back to Cyclone Bola in 1988, which was around the time he went out on his own and launched Wairoa Motorcycles. “That was 36 years ago, and while rebuilding has been a huge job, we are working to be back 100% before Christmas and look forward to welcoming clients into our refurbished business.”

Wairoa Motorcycles | 7 Mahia Avenue, Wairoa 4108 | Phone: 06 838 6922

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