Rissington Cyclone Gabrielle Relief Fund

Rural communities like Rissington have a long history of being resilient and self-reliant. Asking for assistance is something that does not come naturally. However, increasingly we are taught never to be too proud to ask for help.

Our district, like others has been devastated by Cyclone Gabrielle. It has made parts of the area unrecognisable. 100-year-old trees stripped from the valley, local houses and infrastructure destroyed.

In its wake are mountains of silt and slips to be removed to reconnect farms and lifestyle blocks and their animals back to the roading network. The iconic old Rissington Bridge now lies stuck in the silt downstream from where it had remained for nearly 100 years. Our community spirit, resilience and camaraderie has come to the forefront with locals out in force and heavy machinery operators working every daylight hour.

At the time of writing and into the second week since the storm struck we have just got cell phone connectivity back but power remains out. The human side sees the adrenalin of the first week being replaced by exhaustion and mental anguish at the scale of the task ahead.

There are a lot of amazing people, businesses, and community groups out there that have already donated in all sorts of ways from around Hawkes Bay and the rest of the country.

For this we will be forever grateful. We have been inundated with people wanting to offer their support to Rissington directly via a donation hence setting up this page. Kia Kaha.