Back in February, New Zealand was hit with some severe weather, including flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle, a tropical storm. Many parts of the country were affected, but especially the Hawke’s Bay, Coromandel, and Auckland in the North Island.

The significant weather events caused lots of damage to homes and businesses. One of the worst-hit areas in Auckland was in the west, Waitakere City, with lots of people unable to return to their homes around Muriwai, Bethells and Piha beaches, which got cut off from the rest of the city.

Trucks played a vital role in evacuations during the storms, moving debris and dirt from the roads and helping many families get to safety.

Some of the kids and teachers at nearby Waimauku School lost their homes and loved ones. As a special surprise, our friends at Burnett’s Transport & Earthmoving paid a special surprise visit to the school, with driver Mike van Ravenstein parking up the cool Kenworth in the playground! The kids got to climb inside and check out all the features – they even got to blast the airhorns!