'We're not going anywhere': Flood-hit businesses vow to rebuild
Thursday, 23 February 2023
Flood-hit factories and processing plants are vowing to rebuild after Cyclone Gabrielle left many extensively damaged.
Several facilities across Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay, the regions which bore the brunt of the cyclone’s impact, have either shut-up shop completely, or are working at reduced capacity this week.
Pan Pac Forest Products, which operates a mill next to the Esk River at Whirinaki, north of Napier, could remain closed for weeks after the site was inundated by floodwaters.
A preliminary assessment of the site found a small amount of physical damage, but considerable damage to electrical and mechanical equipment from water and silt.
**READ MORE:
* Conservation work at mānuka forests to provide a safeguard for kiwi
* $60 an hour to pick fruit: kiwifruit industry desperate for workers
* Comvita says daigou honey trade, hurt by Covid-19, will rebound
**
With more than 800 staff and contractors, Pan Pac is one of Hawke’s Bay’s largest employers, and has processed timber at the Whirinaki site since 1971.
In a post on the company’s Facebook page, managing director Tony Clifford said while Cyclone Gabrielle was a major disaster, Pan Pac had “been here before with flooding.”
“We have very comprehensive insurance to cover plant damage and business continuity,” Clifford said.
The site remained closed this week to all but a few who were doing essential checks before the rebuild could begin.
“But we will rebuild. We've been here 50 years, and we're not going anywhere.”
Clifford could not be reached for further comment on Thursday.
Chief executive of Mānuka honey company Comvita, David Banfield, said its Hawke’s Bay processing facility was likely to be written off due to storm damage.
Comvita was fully insured and did not anticipate any material impact on its financial results, Banfield said.
Honey extraction was moved to another facility, and apart from the significant disruption in Hawke’s Bay, daily operations were not expected to be affected.
Banfield said all permanent staff were being kept on, temporary staff were still being paid, and temporary accommodation had been arranged for all staff.
Comvita was waiting for insurers to assess its building and was also on the lookout for a temporary location, he said.
Wool carpet maker Bremworth was another business to suffer serious cyclone damage.
Chief executive Greg Smith said Bremworth’s Napier spinning plant, which supplied yarn to a Bremworth carpet operation and dyed fibre to a Whanganui plant, was extensively flooded.
Smith said the site had never been identified as a flood risk, but only as a tsunami risk because of its proximity to the ocean.
“How we build back is key from a business continuity perspective. We need to understand if the council wants to rezone or do a managed retreat.”
As of Friday morning, the site was still without power and an insurance assessor had used a torch to do a walkthrough.
Some areas of the 8000m² plant were still underwater, and a layer of silt – potentially contaminated by sewage and chemicals – covered the floor.
The silt was being tested at a laboratory to see if it was safe to work with, but no one was sure where it would be dumped and businesses needed guidance from the council, Smith said.
Machinery at the plant would deteriorate if it was not cleaned of water and silt soon, and the clean-up would take a concerted effort by dozens.
The news was brighter at kiwifruit exporter Seeka’s Gisborne packhouse, which was back up and running and on the lookout for staff, chief executive Michael Franks said.
With many in the region unable to return to their usual workplaces, the Awapuni packhouse offered alternative employment opportunities, he said.
“We expect there are many locals looking for short-term work while they wait for their current workplaces to get back up and running.”
Packing fruit locally would help both workers and growers who relied on cashflow, he said.
Interim managing director of medicinal cannabis company Rua Bioscience, Anna Stove, said its Gisborne head office and manufacturing facility were closed.
The sites were not damaged but access to water and connectivity issues was a “major challenge,” Stove said.
A skeleton crew had to intervene to save plants grown for research and development trials, she said.
“Left unattended, the weather conditions could have had a major impact on our outdoor crop.”
Rua’s indoor crop relied entirely on technological and human intervention, and had no natural sunlight or rainfall.
Without careful management of scarce resources such as power, provided by a back-up generator, they may not have survived, Stove said.