Long road to recovery for Motueka retailers struck by hail storm
Wednesday, 20 January 2021
While the ice has long-since melted on High St Motueka, behind closed doors some businesses are still reeling from the effects of the Boxing Day hail storm.
The sheer volume of water and ice overwhelmed many buildings' drainage systems, causing leaks in roofs and ceilings and flooding ground floors.
Paper Plus in Motueka was one of the hardest hit, with the water damage ruining the store’s walls, ceiling and floor – and wiping a majority of its mainly paper-based stock.
Owner/operators Mark and Sarah Amyes were at their home in the nearby Brooklyn Valley when the storm hit, and went to check on the store after hearing reports of the hail.
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“We walked up to the side of the shop and the ground was like a ski field,” Sarah said. “We looked in the door and Mark said ‘I hope that’s a reflection’.”
As they opened the door, water began to pour out onto the street.
“The ceiling was raining, and we were ankle-deep in water. A few choice words were said and we burst into tears.”
Sarah said while a small army of volunteers turned up to deal with the water and try and save the stock – the damage had already been done.
The water had soaked through the ceiling, walls, and floor, causing irreparable damage to much of the interior of the store and its stock. The couple said they were dealing with insurers, but did not want to go into detail about the cost of the damage.
About a hundred metres down the road, it was a similar story for Stirling Sports Motueka owners Martin and Susanna Thompson.
Martin Thompson was in the store when the storm struck, and said it was the intensity of the deluge that caused the damage.
“It was almost monsoon-like, there were sheets of rain coming down, and within the space of a couple of minutes it turned to hail.”
He said water soon started to drip through the ceiling, with Susanna rushing out the back of the store to get some buckets to catch the water.
“By the time she got back it was like a waterfall, coming through the ceiling tiles – and within 20 minutes it was like an incoming tide of water in the shop.
“It was just a numb feeling, you were standing there thinking; ‘what do I do’?”
Following the storm both the Thompsons' and Amyes’ stores had to close and have been gutted – with the repairs and replacements meaning re-opening is weeks if not months away.
While superficially the damage did not seem too bad, the combination of water damage and the growth of mould throughout the buildings in the aftermath meant major renovations were needed.
The timing couldn’t have been worse either, with the storm hitting Motueka at the beginning of the peak summer retail period.
“That was the shame of it,” Martin Thompson said. “[Afterwards] we were looking out the shop window and the town was absolutely humming. It was heartbreaking actually.”
The cost of the storm to businesses was expected to be in the millions, while orchardists were likely to experience losses of more than $100m.
Our Town Motueka coordinator Claire Hutt there had been about 20 businesses that had suffered significant flooding, although most had now been able to reopen.
Hutt said there had been a lot of support within the business community to share equipment and resources for those who were most in need.
Sarah Amyes said the majority of people in town had been very supportive, from their landlord to customers and other business owners.
She said there had been some negative comments about the store's closure on social media, although many people had simply not understood the extent of the damage.
“I just want to thank our customers for the patience and support they’ve had for us – it will be a long process [to get back open again].”