44 | TRANSPORT McKay Cartage “There are still a lot of roads that are substandard or not accessible and the money is not there yet to fix them.” Cyclone Gabrielle’s shadow still hangs McKay’s Cartage played a significant role in restoring the region’s connectivity. T T Bernadette Cooney Twenty months on from February 14, 2023, many roads remain impassable, and the forestry industry alongside other industry in Tairawhiti, continues to recover. With the region’s soils still sodden from Cyclone Hale just a month before, Gabrielle tore through lives and livelihoods. Kevin McKay, owner of McKay’s Cartage, recalls the days that followed. “We pretty much had our guys out working a couple of days later,” Kevin says. “We worked to create vehicle access to get food and supplies to the back country, which also allowed the lines companies to restore power to homes.” With the East Coast cut off completely, McKay’s Cartage also played a significant role in restoring the region’s connectivity, hauling metal to get a temporary link road open as fast as possible. It is estimated that Cyclone Gabrielle cost the New Zealand economy $14.5 billion within the first year of rebuild and recovery works. The impacts on the East Coast economy were particularly severe. “I’ve been into forests where there were hectares of pine trees,” Kevin says. “After Gabrielle there was not a sign of them.” “The soil never seemed to dry out and it just kept raining and raining and everything kept moving,” he says, referring to the seemingly endless erosion. “It didn’t matter who you were – whether you were in forestry, farming or horticulture – everyone was affected.” Forestry crews unable to work due to the decimation of forest roads turned their hands to the massive task of clearing woody debris and assisting with opening up essential roads to relink communities and other industry. Once the state highways were passable freight was able to move. But it caused a huge slowdown in the logging industry as opening access to forests was a lot harder and is still ongoing,” Kevin recalls. The company currently has teams operating three, 13-tonne diggers and two Hydrema off-road dump trucks undertaking critical environmental rehabilitation in Ernslaw One forests. Kevin says that despite adverse publicity, Ernslaw One, a company growing and managing over 95,000 hectares of trees, is committed to sustainability and remediating damage to the region’s forests and waterways. “They’ve been very good, very proactive,” says Kevin. With many Council roads still out of commission, a one-hour trip to the store has become a gruelling two- and half-hour journey for people forced to take alternative back country routes. It’s believed that it will be between five and 10 years before the East Coast’s transport infrastructure – including dozens of bridges – will be fully reinstated. “With all the erosion and the nature of our soils, the impacts will be ongoing.” “There are still a lot of roads that are substandard or not accessible and the money is not there yet to fix them.” For McKay Cartage, the region’s recovery and rebuild is goes deeper than doing business. It is a commitment to see fractured communities reunited and rebuilt. “You’ve got to keep chipping away and support your customers and communities,” Kevin says. For all your Bulkie, Linehaul and local insurance needs. Proud to be insurance broker for McKay Cartage. Ph: 09 473 6921 DDI | Fax: 09 479 3182 | Mob: 021 8 222 99 | E: philm@hutchrod.co.nz
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=