This week (5 April) we had a visit from DG Marilyn Stevens, and then a poignant presentation by Peter Whittington on the devastating consequences of Cyclone Gabrielle on his business and the wider Hawkes Bay community.
David Barnes reports.
First up, DG Marilyn reported that Rotary in our district is in good heart, with two new clubs. A recent initiative which enables smaller clubs to hand over the responsibilities of administration and finance is working well. This allows smaller clubs to focus on being Rotarians, remain outward-facing and not have their Rotary experience bogged down by administration.
Marilyn challenged us to think about: 'why we joined Rotary? And another question: 'what would the world be like without Rotary?'
She said that the world needs Rotary more than ever before, as it assists others and also brings people together in a divided world.
As an example of this, Marilyn spoke about our District cooperation with a Finnish district to provide six field ambulances for the Ukraine. We contributed $25,000 for this. Even getting these ambulances to the Ukraine required intensive international cooperation given the lack of GPS, the war and security environment, and snow.
Next-up, our own Peter Whittington spoke about the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle and its impacts on his family vineyard and the region itself.
Peter showed the significant damage, which will take many years to remediate, to businesses, infrastructure and to local communities.
He showed heart-breaking photos of vineyards and orchards completely destroyed, roads and railway lines ripped away and communities cut off. The damage is such that communities have not had the services and utilities to even repair themselves. Peter's photos illustrated the force of the flooding, with vehicles being carried by floodwaters to the middle of vineyards, adding to the destruction of vines and posts. Shockingly, these photos were taken about three weeks after the main weather event.
From a business perspective, there is the lack of supplies, silt has contaminated and clogged up equipment such as sumps, technology failed (no electronic banking), and freight routes have been disconnected or are unreliable.
Well-intentioned but poorly thought-through council policies contributed to excessive slash which led to river damming, further flooding and bridges being destroyed.
This extreme event has taken an enormous mental toll on people, whose livelihoods have been destroyed. Against this backdrop, these people still have the dispiriting and overwhelming task to clean everything up while facing an uncertain future.
While the media 'shower' and headlines are over, the event is still very much present in the lives of residents in the Hawkes Bay and will be for years to come.