Devastated food growers in the Hawke's Bay are pleading for Government help as they struggle to know what to do next.
Their crops are gone and so are their livelihoods – in some areas, deep-rooted apple trees were swept clean away in the raging waters.
Paddocks have either been ravaged or are now completely bare.
“Adrenaline keeps us going, as growers this is our house and our home,” fruit grower Jerf van Beek says, adding people had been on his property since early this morning to offer help.
He says the force of the water took his whole orchard out, leaving just bare grass and a couple of irrigation pipes “sticking out of the ground”.
Apple grower Leon Stallard told 1News Cyclone Gabrielle had ruined picking season.
“We were going to plan to start harvesting on Monday, you know we had a dozen or so backpackers coming to stay on the orchard, the accommodation's all under water.”
Growers say they can only take one day at a time right now as today they got together to plant a new seed.
“We need to get back up again, so I really shout out to central government, local government to support us and help us build up again,” van Beek says.
There are fears jobs will be on the line if help doesn't come.
“You know everyone's going to take a massive hit. this isn't just a little wee thing, this is a big event,” beekeeper Jeffrey Flanders told 1News.
Foodstuff’s chief executive Chris Quinn says freshly grown products may be more scarce because of growers being hit hard in some of these locations.
“What we’ll do is start finding alternatives in terms of longer life products that can be used in the meantime,” he says.
Yesterday, Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor announced a $4 million initial support package for farmers, growers, whenua Māori owners and rural communities as the recovery from Cyclone Gabrielle begins.
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