Time and place
OPINION: First on the scene after the recent devastating storms in parts of the North Island were emergency services and selfless members of the public.
The 360ha bull-beef farm owned by the Whangaroa Ngaiotonga Trust is located near the settlement of Whangaruru and last year won the prestigious Ahuwhenua Trophy for the top Māori farm in the country.
But a severe isolated rain deluge of 400mm hit the Whangaruru area causing massive damage to roads, homes and the farm. Co-chair of the Whangaroa Ngaiotonga Trust, Morris Pita, says it will take at least a month to repair the damage. He says they lost two 2000 metres of fencing and six culverts were destroyed and need replacing.
"The farm manager Matt Payne and his staff have got stuck in repairing the damage and they will repair the fences in due course," he told Rural News.
"We have had the insurance assessors in touch straight away they have responded quickly, and we have a digger operator to make a start on the earthworks that need doing. This includes roads and washed out culverts and other parts of the farm infrastructure that took a big hit," he says.
Pita says they are glad they have insurance, which is a big help, but adds that there are things that cannot be insured and they are still working out the full cost of the damage bill, likely to be significant.
He says they haven't had to destock because of the storm but says moving animals around is not easy. Just after the storm, staff had to use kayaks to get to some parts of the property.
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"But the issue we have is road access, with many slips, and I know that forestry trucks can't get through. I suspect it may be the same for some of the stock trucks as well," he says,
Pita says the farm staff have been marvelous. He says not only have they worked hard to get the farm back in operation, but they have also helped the wider community deal with the effects of the storm. He also praised the help given by government agencies and local and regional councils.
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Co-chair of the Whangaroa Ngaiotonga Trust, Morris Pita. |
Welcome Rain
Northland MP Grant McCallum says he's visited the Whangaruru area and the area has been absolutely smacked by the storm.
He says road access is an issue and many homes and local businesses have been damaged - some red stickered.
But he says it appears that the damage is just confined to that one area.
"In fact, Northland is in good shape. I haven't had any reports of major damage to orchards or farms in other parts of the region. Although I was told that some forestry operators were having difficulty getting logs out of certain areas," he says.
McCallum says ironically some of the rain that fell in other parts of Northland was welcomed. But he says he feels for the peole in the Whangaruru area that have been so badly affected by the storm.
