Cyclone Gabrielle, Booth’s Logistics, and lessons learned
Booth’s Logistics in Hastings found itself at the epicentre of Cyclone Gabrielle’s impact. Its Executive Director, Stewart Taylor, says the weather’s effects were felt throughout the business’ entire network – not just in Hastings and Hawke’s Bay.
Damage to bridges was among the huge toll the cyclone took in the Hastings District Council area which was estimated to cost about $800 million to remedy or repair, including 16 destroyed bridges, 28 significantly damaged bridges and more than 100 kilometres of road needing to be rebuilt, plus attention to 13,000 culverts requiring either unblocking, repairing, replacing or upgrading and more than 1,000 slips needing remediation.
Thankfully, Booth’s Elwood Road premise wasn’t flooded but that was the only good news; operations to and from Hawke’s Bay were suspended immediately. On a normal day, Booth’s operates around 50 trucks from its site and while some services could get through to Palmerston North, devastated roading networks meant the majority of logistical operations were curtailed.
However, as Booth’s is an import hub for Foodstuffs, Mr Taylor says the need for specific products for the likes of rice and other food staples was still urgent. Then a flurry of generator requests came in, making Booth’s a central hub for emergency generator movements for cold stores and community centres.
Despite the difficulties, the company successfully delivered a truckload of food to multiple supermarkets and ensured the availability of essential supplies in the aftermath of the cyclone. So, if there was one thing Mr Taylor and his team learned, it was the importance of adaptability.
“For logistical reasons and to prioritise everyone’s safety, we briefly instructed our employees to stay home,” Mr Taylor says.
“On the day following the cyclone, we had a warehouse filled with essential food products that our customers urgently needed. Our dedicated emergency staff braved the darkness, retrieving those supplies for supermarket chains and other clients in need.”
Booth’s is heavily involved with containerised cargo for Napier Port with services including container packing and export loading, container shipping and temperature-controlled container specialists. The typical product mix is import/export containers, produce cartage and handling, packaging and other assorted products.
As one could imagine, this service took a dive when bridges and damage to other regional infrastructure occurred. However, once road access opened up locally including to the south via SH2 and SH51, Booth’s tried restarting its container services, albeit in a smaller scope.
“Containers were scheduled for vessels and those vessels were delayed or the bookings were bounced to the next week. Some exporters were redirecting their cargo to the port of Tauranga. By about day three or four, there was this significant shift in exports going up to the Port of Tauranga,” Mr Taylor says.
“By about that time, I’d say the majority of our fleet engaged in moving containers, especially export containers but also some imports, to and from Tauranga. We had to go via Manawatu, going to Palmerston North then to Tauranga.
“So, that was a two-day round trip rather than a single-day round trip.”
Reflecting on the overall experience, it was made painfully aware to Mr Taylor of Booth’s need for improved emergency backup infrastructure.
“We realised that we lacked emergency power backup for certain warehouses, which became evident when the lights went out, leaving us in darkness. We had generators available on-site, but their functionality was limited to a plug-and-play setup.
“One of the things we’re going to pick up on is to make sure that our buildings are enabled for the quick stand up of alternative energy for operations.”
More than their own vulnerabilities, the cyclone emphasised the fragility of the district’s infrastructure to extreme events and, as a result, the weaknesses of the supply chain at large.
“We lost two out of the four bridges between Hastings and Napier and even now, we’re still impacted by the change in traffic flows, and from that the number of trips we can complete in a day with a truck,” Mr Taylor says.
“But it’s fascinating just to take a step back and realise that we are limited by this handful of river crossings. This will have lasting impacts; road transport businesses are not too effective when there aren’t roads to travel on.”
A month on from the cyclone, the Government announced a $6 billion National Resilience Plan, and a $100 million flood infrastructure fund as part of this year’s Budget. This is after the Treasury has put the cost of asset damage from the Auckland floods and Cyclone Gabrielle at between $9 billion and $14.5 billion – more than the Kaikoura earthquake but significantly less than the Canterbury quakes.
Mr Taylor and his team remain optimistic about New Zealand’s ability to invest in resilient infrastructure. He believes that, with time and effort, the country can enhance its infrastructure to withstand such weather events.
“It’s heartening to see investment in infrastructure, and I’m optimistic that we will find a way to continue operating – we always bounce back pretty fast.
“We have ongoing work streams through Gisborne that continued, they just ended up going to a different port. We tend to find some short-term solutions around the immediate challenge. And often it’s in the moment of rebuilding that we’re probably likely to rebuild that infrastructure to a higher standard.”