Cyclone Gabrielle: Volunteer hub overflows with help in flood-ravaged Waipawa

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By Lauren Crimp of RNZ

Days after Cyclone Gabrielle forced people out of their homes in the central Hawke’s Bay town of Waipawa, they have returned to clean up, and RNZ reporter Lauren Crimp finds an entire community eager to help each other out.

On the Waipawa primary school fence hang six signs displaying its values.

Among them, “Hiwa - we get stuck in”.

“Aroha - we look after our place and our people”.

Just down the road, a van was parked up.

The Waipawa primary school fence has signs which display the school's values. Photo / RNZ-Lauren Crimp

Volunteers sat inside, and at a table under the attached gazebo, matching offers of help with those seeking support in the wake of the cyclone.

The barbecue was sizzling, and volunteers dropped in for a sausage, baking, and a bottle of water before they headed off to the next job.

In the small Central Hawke’s Bay town, Bibby St could be mistaken for a state highway, such was the amount of traffic.

Trucks, trailers and diggers were there to clear silt and move rubbish and debris, and cars were delivering lunch and baking to those without, and to volunteers.

People showed up every few minutes.

“How can I help?”

In Waipawa, volunteers drop in for a sausage, baking, and a bottle of water before they headed off to the next job. Photo / RNZ-Lauren Crimp

The volunteer hub to streamline the effort was the brainchild of some locals, including Nicola Fryer.

It took a while to catch her - she met with those who needed support, directed people to different jobs, accepted donations of kai.

“After the floods it was natural that everyone wants to help, everyone wants to feel useful,” she said.

“It was chaos, I suppose, so we coupled with council and came up with the idea of a volunteer hub where people can come along, and they can register their interest in volunteering and we can connect that to those that actually need the help.”

Saturday was mostly about clearing homes of people’s belongings, furniture, and carpet into skip bins and trailers destined for the dump.

One volunteer said some people had no insurance, and tried to hang on to everything they could, because they could not afford to replace it.

But everything was contaminated after flood waters rushed through.

They had no choice.

Volunteers help clear Waipara homes of belongings, furniture, and carpet contaminated by flooding during Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / RNZ-Lauren Crimp

I asked Fryer how her work made her feel.

“Don’t ask me that,” she said through tears.

“It’s amazing, actually.

“It just makes you feel useful.”

Elsewhere in the town, the Municipal Theatre had become the kai distribution centre, and Ascende Church was sorting and dishing out donations of clothing, towels, and blankets.

At the theatre, volunteer Sara Corbett said it was the place to go for people seeking help - including many who had been left with nothing.

It hosted a community dinner every night since it was set up.

Here, too, flowed a steady stream of people laden with boxes, baskets, and bags of food.

“Where do you want this?”

Fresh baking was sent to the kitchen, non-perishables to the other end of the hall where it was packaged up for delivery.

There was so much, said Corbett, it would soon be sent to the town’s “cousins” in Napier and Hastings.

Two women arrived back from a recce through the town with bread baskets ready to restock.

They were on driving duty, fuelling volunteers.

They played down their efforts.

“We are just delivering food to people that don’t want to stop working,” said one.

“They are just working hard, they don’t want help.

“You force it on them.

“Once it’s in their arms, you run away.

“So they can keep cleaning, ripping gib off houses, carpets out of houses, shovelling silt from their garages.

“Where we see groups of people, we stop, and we deliver food, simple as that.”

The volunteer effort here is a well-oiled machine, built in just a day.

In the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle, people have got stuck in.

They are looking after their place, and their people.