Businesses on Pollen St in Thames have experienced a quiet Monday as Cyclone Gabrielle begins to take hold.
100% Thames owner Roger Cook told The Profile the cyclone had caused the store to cancel its deliveries.
“We were concerned about deliveries so we cancelled all deliveries for the day and [customers have] all been understanding,” he said.
“We did have a large freezer that was meant to go to Colville but that would be a bit crazy I think in the circumstances.
“We got cleaned out of torches and batteries and battery packs for recharging phones on Saturday but it’s been really quiet as we expected and the worst is yet to come.”
Four Square Thames owner Nalin Patel said while his business had sold out of bread, there had been no power outages and he had prepared sandbags at the front entrance as a precaution.
“Saturday was busy and today most businesses are shut so workers aren’t here to pick up their stuff [from FourSquare] and go home after,” he said.
“Bread is sold out, we can not increase bread straight away because we have to tell [the suppliers] 48 hours in advance so they can then bake and then send.
“But we haven’t been affected by any power outage or anything and we prepared with sandbags just in case.”
Antiques in Thames manager Kate Parker said Monday morning had been “very quiet”.
“I’ve had two people come in who are heading to Ōhope from Coromandel and I said ‘Gabrielle’s going to follow you down there,’ she said.
“They said there was nowhere for them to go and there were hardly any coffee shops open.”
Lotus Realm manager Satyananda Cooney said three of his staff who live on the Thames Coast Rd could not travel to work and he had put sandbags at the rear of the shop as a precaution.
Sand and sandbags that have been in contact with floodwater need to be thrown away, Thames-Coromandel District Council has advised. They can be taken to a local transfer station.
