Ashley Adams, in his role as an Insurance Adjuster, presented to the club a glimpse of the nature and extent of storm damage by Cyclone Gabrielle. Ashley showed an array of photos of the damaged roading infrastructure (particularly bridges) in Hawkes Bay and damage to a secondary school in Esk Valley from floodwater and silt arising from the Cyclone. In the Hawkes Bay district eleven bridges were destroyed requiring total replacement, and up to one hundred bridges were damaged, some able to be re-instated with minor repairs others requiring major repairs. Ashley's role was to assess the damage and provide costs to the insurance companies and district councils. The concern for all is the secondment of trained bridge and road builders to complete the works in a reasonable time.
