Emma Hadden says businesses closed since the cyclone are crying out for support. Photo: RNZ/Jimmy Ellingham
Hawke's Bay business owners unable to open since Cyclone Gabrielle struck say they are paying the price as they lose customers and income.
While government grants are being paid out for some, such as wedding venue Meadowood House, between Napier and Hastings, they are a drop in the bucket.
Meadowood is an oasis in the countryside that is facing a long winter trying to recover from the damage wreaked by floodwater on 14 February.
Owner Emma Hadden showed RNZ through through ruined glamping tents - used for wedding accommodation.
"They have to come down," she said.
"They're just disgusting. The silt seeped into stuff. That silt - my husband got so sick from one day cleaning up purely just from the contamination that's in the silt.
"The paths have all washed away. They deck that was in front of this dome tent is over the other side of the property."
Such was the power of the floodwater.
The limestone or gravel paths washing away were not covered by insurance.
Hadden said their policy covered only tarmac - another annoyance to contemplate as she, husband Colin and their two children reflect on their lost income, and their lost home.
It was inundated with water, and now the family's ruined belongings sit on the grass near their small orchard, which was also ruined.
The Hadden family's flood-damaged belongings are lying on the grass in front of their ruined house. Photo: RNZ/Jimmy Ellingham
Heavy agricultural items were carried from their sheds and deposited throughout the property of just over five hectares.
"It's just so sad to see it - all our stuff, just dumped. It's horrific.
"The personal toll has been huge as well."
The cyclone's destruction robbed Meadowood of its busy peak season.
The Haddens were now living in an art deco cottage usually reserved for wedding parties, and plan to move into a caravan on their property while their house is rebuilt and when their business was up and running again.
They were told on Friday they will receive a $40,000 government grant from a scheme administered by the Hawke's Bay Chamber of Commerce, but until their insurance pays out that and some money from family has been their only income.
Hadden said because received that funding, they were unable to apply for some other grants.
Meanwhile, fix-up costs were mounting.
"We really feel like small businesses here in Hawke's Bay have been abandoned, and it's not good enough," she said.
"We didn't cause the cyclone. We are not responsible for the upkeep or even the efficacy of those stopbanks, which just failed completely.
"We're here shouldering all of the pain."
Hadden said to reopen by the busy spring season, Meadowood needed certainty now so it could order replacement furniture and tailor-made accommodation.
"We had to cancel all our accommodation bookings. We had to cancel half a dozen weddings.
"Some of the couples were happy to postpone until next year and some of the other couples - and I don't blame them - wanted to go ahead with their wedding day, so we need to pay them back for what they have paid us.
"It feels like it's money out day after day after day, and there's no money coming in."
No officials had been to her property offering help, she said. Instead, they had received outside assistance from volunteer groups Taskforce Kiwi and Team Rubicon, from Canada.
In Esk Valley, north of Napier, owner of the Valley D'Vine Restaurant at the Linden Estate Winery, Greg Miller, was facing similar uncertainty.
Greg Miller is disappointed his restaurant only received a $10,000 grant. Photo: RNZ/Jimmy Ellingham
"We're still closed. It's been seven weeks and hopefully we can get reopened at some stage, but we've still got silt and cleaning up [to do]," he said.
"The restaurant's pretty much ready to go. We just need to get some better scenery, because half the reason for people coming out to Eskdale is because of the view, which we don't really seem to have any more."
Miller has been paying his seven staff out of his own pocket and reserves since the closure, costing about $30,000.
They have helped with the clean-up, but on Friday Miller was disappointed to learn he was only allocated a $10,000 grant, rather than the full $40,000.
He was not sure how many weeks he could keep afford to keep paying people with the doors shut.
And he was still waiting on insurance, while missing out on customers.
"We're getting all the inquires about 'are you open this weekend'. Easter weekend is huge for us - it's the Mission [Rod Stewart] concert as well.
"It was going to be a huge weekend. We're missing out on doing a few weddings as well."
Miller, who has owned the restaurant for 11 years, said he was been organising I Am Hope mental health clinics, but felt like he has not been given any help.
Some cyclone-affected businesses were on the road to recovery, including The Puketapu pub, north-west of Napier.
The Puketapu owner Mary Danielson says the pub is expected to reopen in June. Photo: RNZ/Jimmy Ellingham
"We're slowly getting the pub back together again. At the moment we've got the restaurant just about to the painting stage and then the kitchen and the offices out the back, then they'll start working on the bar," owner Mary Danielson said.
The pub was expected to reopen in June, and a big celebration was planned.
It will provide a welcome fillip for the community - and the business.
"There's no income coming in at the moment, but we are insured and we did have good insurance.
"We are still going to lose [money], but not too bad - not like the orchardists and farmers and everybody else around here," she said.
Hadden said for those facing a worrying future, more help was needed.
"Please, insurance companies, pay us out and, please, Grant Robertson, can you please look at a wage subsidy for businesses like ourselves who literally can't open our doors for another five or six months," she said.
"Please come to the table. We're not making this up. We were a really viable business before the cyclone, so just support us."
Robertson, the cyclone recovery minister, said the application process and delivery of the funding was managed by "local delivery partners" in affected regions, not by central government.
"We will continue to monitor demand for this support - applications are still being processed in all regions."
