
Shearing legend Sir David Fagan and businessman Jim McIndoe in their hometown of Te K奴iti have linked arms in one of the early strategic and possibly long-term outside responses to Cyclone Gabrielle farmland recovery in Hawke鈥檚 Bay.
The two are planning a silage and hay run in the King Country, using Sir David鈥檚 鈥渇ront paddock鈥� as a receiving point for the feed, with McIndoe utilising Hawke鈥檚 Bay contacts to provide storage in Hawke鈥檚 Bay to facilitate timely distribution.
Also being collected are other items that may be needed in rural households, and Sir David says it鈥檚 just the start.
Also being organised are trucks and a tractor which will be available to transport, and if unloading and loading is an issue, he says a package is being put together to be as self-efficient as possible.
By Wednesday morning, seven trucks had been made available, and shipping containers for such goods as non-perishables.
鈥淭his will be going on for months by the look of things,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o, we will get better at it as it goes along.鈥�
鈥淵ou just can鈥檛 comprehend what they鈥檙e going through,鈥� said Sir David, who lives on the outskirts of Te K奴iti, which was itself isolated with a Civil Defence state of emergency as floodwaters surrounded the town, inundating some urban properties, amid rainfall of 160-200 millimetres on January 28.
It was a 鈥渟mall one,鈥� says Sir David, who has 鈥渁lways lived on a hill鈥� and has largely come through unscathed in weather events, apart from 鈥渁 few slips and a few broken fences鈥�.
Sir David said there would be 鈥渉undreds鈥� of similar rural community responses mounting around the country, particularly in the North Island. Among them is cartage, storage and logistics company J Swap, which has already carted donated feed to meet specific needs in Hawke鈥檚 Bay, and is also working with other companies and services in receiving donated goods, which include such things as fencing supplies, at the RSA in Matamata 鈥� home base for the company, which has a fleet of 200 trucks nationwide.
Company director Andrew Swap said: 鈥淚f people have got something to donate, we鈥檙e happy to get it there.鈥�
- Flood-ravaged Twyford community cleaning up with help from the outside
- Cyclone Gabrielle: Coromandel Civil Defence focus on getting fuel to farmers and isolated communities
- Cyclone Gabrielle: Phia residents fled homes which were destroyed by slips, community still cut off
Two other companies had provided B-train trailers dedicated to the operation, able to be loaded up, and Swap said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 a case of being ready to hook up to a truck tractor unit and go. Anything we can do, we will do it.鈥�
There's not much left at Whirinaki, north of Napier. Photo / Warren Buckland
Ironically, in 2020, the company was also involved in similar operations in Hawke鈥檚 Bay 鈥� transporting between regions to help farmers combat the impact of the drought.
Earlier this week, Federated Farmers national vice-president Wayne Langford, of Taup艒, expressed the feelings of 鈥渦tter dismay [and] devastation鈥� among the communities of Hawke鈥檚 Bay, Gisborne-Wairoa, Northland, Coromandel, and Waikato hit by Cyclone Gabrielle and preceding cyclonic enemy Hale.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a bitter irony that plenty of farms in Otago and Southland are heading into their third summer/autumn drought in a row,鈥� he wrote.
He said the priority of Federated Farmers this week has been on reaching out to isolated farms with comms, electricity and roads access severed to get an accurate handle on their needs.
鈥淭he Kiwi way is to reach out to help those affected,鈥� he said.
Federated Farmers has set up 鈥渂uttons鈥� on its website enabling people to lodge donations and offers of labour, machinery, generators, etc.
鈥淭he fact is, it may be a week, even weeks, before farmers hit hardest can work out what would help them most, and be in a position to call in labour help or our 鈥楩army Army鈥�,鈥� he said.
鈥淧roblem is, by then the sun may well be shining again, and many of those unaffected will again be wrapped up in their own busy lives.鈥�
Thus he urged: 鈥淟et鈥檚 do our best to keep in mind those whose livelihoods have been smashed. Click the donation or Volunteer Registration buttons on the opening page of our website.鈥�
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