Stricken farmers warned of more rain

Peter Brake's Whakatane farm flooded as heavy rain hit the eastern Bay of Plenty at the weekend. Photo / Christine Cornege

Eastern Bay of Plenty farmers are still working furiously to pump out flooded pastures as they prepare for more rain on top of the weekend's deluge, which saw 15 people evacuated from their Whakatane homes after a stopbank breach.

With calving season under way, farmers are still vulnerable and the MetService is predicting rain and showers for the rest of the week.

The area between Whakatane and Opotiki worst affected had received between 200mm and 300mm of rain but it could be some time before the damage to fences and amount of silting is known.

Federated Farmers Bay of Plenty president John Scrimgeour told NZPA about half a dozen farms were seriously affected.

He knew of a couple of farms behind Whakatane which each had about 80ha under water, and in one case the water was between 3m and 4m deep.

"That makes life pretty complicated for them. People in the thick of calving and cows are getting into milk so there's quite a few challenges there in terms of feeding stock and trying not to make too much mud."

Further rain this week would stop the land drying out and keep everything soggy, he said.

"It will be difficult for those farms already struggling."

Mr Scrimgeour's own rain records showed that in the seven months to May there had been 340mm of rain but since then about 1000mm.

The rain had helped address dry spells of recent years and springs in the hills were producing water for the first time in about four years, he said.

Whakatane Civil Defence controller Diane Turner told NZPA today the weekend's drama was more or less over and the region had escaped with some damage to roads but none to water supply, storm water and waste water systems.

A lot of the focus now was on pumping out flooded farms.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council flood duty manager Roger Waugh said that now the rain had stopped, river levels were receding quickly.

However, staff and contractors continued to work across the affected areas as more pumps arrived in the region.

Mr Waugh said council staff and contractors yesterday repaired the breach of the stopbank near Whakatane and had now finished the emergency repair works. The evacuees had been allowed to return to their homes.

"We know that with calving going on, this is one of the worst possible times for an event like this so we're making all efforts to assist farmers and affected people where possible," he said.

The council wanted to hear from farmers who were still experiencing problems, if they hadn't contacted the council already, he said.

- NZPA