Crazy variable

Speaking to Rural News from his office in the town, he described the impact of cyclone Gabrielle on the region as “variable”. He says some places suffered little damage, while others were hit terribly badly.

Andrew says the horticulture land on the southern side of Gisborne was largely protected by a stop bank, while north of the city crops were “nailed”.

“In some orchards, the water has come up over the fruit.”

In terms of sheep and beef farms, Andrew says the main problem will be access, with bridges washed away, which will take time to repair. He says there will also be slips on farm, tracks damaged, fences down and some stock losses, but he doesn’t expect these to be great.

Andrew says there are problems for farms north of Tolaga Bay where road access has been cut. He says there are also problems for hill country farms south of Gisborne.

Andrew says a meeting of farmers and growers was held in Gisborne to try and get a picture of the scale and nature of the problems. He says, as communications are gradually restored it will be possible to get a more accurate picture of the scale of devastation, then to set priorities and fix the damage.