Newspaper Article 2005 – Flooding Figures

FLOODING FIGURES
270mm of rain fell in the Ruahine Range in 24 hours.
2,500,000 tonnes of soil were washed away.
23 bridges in the Manawatu-Wanganui Regional Council area were damaged.
2500 people were evacuated from their homes.
400 dwellings were flooded.
10,000 dairy cows had to be relocated and 13,500,000 litres of milk was not processed.
There was $10.94 million of insured damage and $8.58 million of uninsured damage.
– source, HB Regional Council

Hunters revert to trees

Porangahau coastal farmers Rob and Jane Hunter have planted trees since last year.

They have planted 300 poplars and willows but could have done with many more.

“We were planning to plant trees anyway but the floods made it even more important,” Jane says.

They too have spent the year catching up, bulldozing slips out of the way and fixing fences.

It’s been a year of standing still for their farming programme

Their stock losses were not huge because their flats are prone to flooding and they know to shift their stock as soon as they hear the rain on the roof.

One farm bridge has still not been repaired which means they have to take stock the long way round, adding to the work, and they have replaced one bridge with a culvert to make it less vulnerable.

Son Scott has been busy clearing drains and creeks so floodwaters don’t back up, and more tree planting is planned.

Central Hawke’s Bay District Council grants and rates relief helped, as did the number of people who volunteered to help.

In the end they did the work themselves because other cases were more deserving.

They are still waiting for promised MAF money.

Jane says the repairs and flood-preparation they have done is not established enough if it floods again this year, “It’s a bit soon for the trees to be any use yet.”

The rains that arrived in August probably cost more in terms of money and stress because it killed many newborn lambs.

The weather was too wild to shift stock then and the strength of the storm was not forecast.

“At least we had plenty of grass in February.”