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Tasmania Mayor Tim King says gardeners received a “devastating blow” after a large hail struck the region last night, causing significant damage to local crops and businesses.
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Tasmania Mayor Tim King called the scale of the damage “quite significant.” Source: 1 NEWS
King said the “scale of damage is quite significant” in Motueka, while the Waimea Plains “has also seen an impact.”
He said that while the magnitude of the damage caused by the hail is “a little early to tell”, several orchards near Motueka have been “very badly affected” and is likely to have “a fairly large impact” on Motueka’s economy, as well as the wider region.
It is expected to take about a week to fully assess the “overall impact” caused by hail.
King added that while the hail was a “massive hit” to the region’s horticulturists, the “significant adverse weather event” is not “something they haven’t faced before.”
“It doesn’t make things easier for them.”
He said that many businesses in Motueka have been affected by severe water damage, including internal waterways. Several commercial buildings have also been “red-labeled for structural damage.”
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‘What a way to end the year’: companies left with a massive clean-up job after hail hit Tasmania Source: 1 NEWS
One business affected by the hail includes a Liquorland store that saw its roof panels “just started to fall off,” a staff member told 1 NEWS.
“The roof started to collapse,” he said. “This is not a pretty sight.”
She said staff are now working to dry her stock and rugs and “hopefully get the store up and running as soon as possible.”
“Mother Nature, what a way to end the year … This was definitely a way to go out strong.”
A local SPCA store was also affected by the weather event, with lighting breaking hail, roof tiles and donated material damaged.
“We’ve probably lost half of our donated shares, and that’s a lot of our donated shares for the winter as well, so we will be looking for donations from the public,” said the Tasman-Marlborough SPCA team leader Louise Hoover said.
“I was very surprised at how much damage there was.”
Council building inspectors, with the help of local New Zealand Fire and Emergency personnel, have since inspected 20 commercial and residential buildings, a Tasmania District Council spokesperson told 1 NEWS.
Section 124 notices were issued to three commercial buildings amid structural damage from the event. Other houses and buildings suffered damage from water and electricity.
King said the community at large has had a “surprisingly remarkable year, Covid notwithstanding, so this is a really devastating blow at this time of year.”
“I really hope that the Motueka community, in particular, will come together, as we have done so many times before, and work on this, support the horticulture industry and all other businesses that have been affected during the last 24 hours ”.
