A devastated entrepreneur has had her business dream "ripped away" by the fierce storm that hit her rural town and the Orana region a week ago.
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Kat Porter's vision was to transform a disused 1930s-era property at Nevertire into a thriving hub called the Rural Trader and catering for the community and visitors.
But the storm's severe winds "completely flattened" the shed that was to be an event space, and its debris was strewn across the town, she said.
Two other buildings that were to become a lifestyle, coffee and homewares concept store and Airbnb respectively sustained "significant structural damage", she said.
The owner of the property since June, she said they were going through a process with assessors and engineers to deem whether it was going to be a "full write-off or if anything can be repaired".
"That building, from the assessors yesterday, has basically been deemed irreparable, and more than likely it will be written off, but we can't confirm that until the engineers come out," Ms Porter said.
"The house has also had significant cyclonic winds, they think that in Nevertire the wind speeds were up to about 200km/h so that building has also been twisted."
It's a cruel blow for the woman who grew up in Hay, moved to Nevertire for love and is passionate about her business venture.
She had even been set to start the Airbnb next month, she said.
"I'm in this situation at the moment where you have this dream and you have this vision for something in your community and it's heartbreaking to have that ripped away from you, in a matter of hours," Ms Porter said.
"So it's pretty devastating."
Nevertire, an agricultural heartland that according to its entry sign has a population of 103 people, endured three years of drought, and then the threat of COVID-19 in 2020.
"Now we've had a cyclone," Ms Porter said.
"The vision for the store was to have a space where the community could get together, so whether that's having a coffee and a sandwich, or hosting an event or a function or a workshop in the function space, or whether it was 'let's have a night at Nev at the pub, and we can stay in Kat's Airbnb'.
"I wanted it to be a really community-driven initiative alongside also being my business.
...that's the thing that's really heartbreaking is that I don't know what the future holds yet.
- Business owner Kat Porter
"So I think that's the thing that's really heartbreaking is that I don't know what the future holds yet."
Ms Porter anticipates the "next couple of months are going to be really tough", but she's refusing to give in.
"I've been looking for something that... was the perfect place and building and I met a farmer who lives at Nevertire and I came out and I've decided to make my life here," she said.
"So I think I'd be crazy not to give it a crack, and I'm very driven and very passionate about this community and the people...
"It might not be in the timeframe we had envisaged, it might not look exactly the same as what we'd envisaged, but my plan is that we will aim to do something in the future."
The silver lining is the support she's receiving, with orders flowing to Ms Porter's side-business as a maker of ceramic soy candles, under the Rural Trader brand.
"Buy From The Bush has increased my sales by 200 per cent," she said.
"I went to the post office and posted 30 orders yesterday and I've still got 32 to go.
"So it's going really well but in saying that, people are just like 'Oh my God, this girl, she's just lost her entire dream, it's just been crushed', but we've just got to keep going, and there's not much else you can do, really."