Northlanders step up to help

Northland rescue helicopter pilot Dean Voelkerling has had a bird's eye view of flood-ravaged Queensland and described it as "complete devastation".
The experienced Northland Emergency Services Trust pilot arrived back in Whangarei on Tuesday after a 12-day stint helping rescue residents in the central Queensland city of Rockhampton.
Rockhampton started flooding on December 27 and the deep flood waters, the colour of milky tea, are yet to recede.
Mr Voelkerling arrived home just as a deluge hit Brisbane with at least 100,000 homes and businesses expected to be without power and thousands of people facing evacuation.
The official death toll has risen to 22 with 40 people still missing.
Another Northlander, Nancy Kareroa, will head to Queensland tomorrow to help the Red Cross effort in Brisbane.
Mr Voelkerling was part of a team airlifting injured people from their Rockhampton homes to safety and hospitals. A bulk of the work was transferring patients and backing up the ambulance service.
"Rockhampton was like a little island. We watched the water rise and watched the water cover everything."
He worked into the night some days and completed more than 30 hours' flying time in one week.
It would take weeks for the flood to fully recede, leaving mud, debris and chaos in its wake.
He said Rockhampton shops on higher ground were open and residents went about their daily lives relatively unscathed. But less than a few kilometres from the main street, where the low-lying suburbs begin, the flood emergency was in full effect.
The helicopter team were forced to shift from their base at the airport after runways became covered in water.
"There was one point we were on the ground and the water lapping up behind us as the levels rose," Mr Voelkerling said.
He also became involved in a search and rescue operation for a fisherman who was swept away in flood waters.
Last night Northland Red Cross area manager Nancy Kareroa packed a pair of gumboots and an umbrella in preparation for her trip to Brisbane. She is part of a four-strong Red Cross team called upon to help in the flood-stricken city.
After a briefing in Wellington today, the team will then assist the Australian Red Cross management and administration.
"We will be doing the late shifts and letting the Australian staff have some time for themselves and their families."."
Brisbane battered: See page 7 for floods latest