Flood cost could be millions

John Clarke

Early estimates of damage from the weekend floods on the East Coast have put the cost at millions of dollars.

Crop farmers from the worst-affected areas of Tolaga Bay and Poverty Bay Flats met officials from the Gisborne District Council, Inland Revenue and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries at two meetings yesterday.

Former Gisborne mayor John Clarke, who is managing the recovery effort, said questionnaires given to the farmers confirmed that 3000ha of horticultural farmland had been damaged.

He said the cost of crop losses and cleaning up 2000ha affected on the Poverty Bay Flats and 1000ha at Tolaga Bay would be substantial.

"It's likely to be millions of dollars."

About 175 farmers attended the meetings.

The level of attendance reflected the severity of the impact on the cropping sector, said Mr Clarke.

Many farmers had yet to fully assess damage, but estimated that 740ha of squash, 600ha of maize, 420ha of sweetcorn and several hundred hectares of newly sown grass had been affected.


"There are also many kilometres of fences that are in need of repair and much silt to be removed from the land," Mr Clarke said.

The farmers were asked to fill in forms providing more detailed information of their losses and return them by tomorrow so the council could seek relief funds from the Government.

Gisborne Mayor Meng Foon said a report would be presented to Civil Defence Minister Rick Barker early next week.

Mr Barker toured the area around Tolaga Bay on Monday and, after seeing damaged crops, asked Agriculture Minister Jim Anderton to organise a team to assess the type, time and cost of repair work.

A spokesman for Mr Barker said he would raise the issue of funding with the Cabinet once he received the council report.

LeaderBrand, one of the country's biggest horticultural companies, said the flood had affected up to 50 per cent of its squash crop.

"We know the damage is bad," said owner Murray McPhail.

More than 300mm of rain fell on parts of the region north of Gisborne on Friday and Saturday.

Four homes at Mangatuna, 15km north of Tolaga Bay, were left uninhabitable and the residents are in temporary accommodation.

Linda Gough, whose 44ha property was deluged with floodwaters and silt, said her family was unable to wash their clothes or use the bathroom because their septic tank and drains had been damaged.

They were able to access parts of the property for the first time on Monday and discovered that three of their horses had gone into foal during the storm.

All the foals had died and Mrs Gough said grazing for their 21 surviving horses had been destroyed.