Community responds to call for help
Members of the Farmy Army, including Federated Farmers president Bernadette Hunt (in high-vis vest) work to clear debris from fence lines during the clean up after the floods. Hundreds turned up to offer their support.
“The farmers were really moved by the support, you could see it on their faces. Having help with time consuming, basic clean-up allowed them to start to focus on the bigger clean-up issues.”
Meeting points were set up in Gore, Edendale and Riversdale to support a range of areas that were affected. The support became so widespread that smaller individual groups made up of neighbours, family and friends started springing up creating their own mini farmy armies.
The volunteers worked clearing fences and picking up plastic baleage wrap. “It doesn’t seem like a big job but its massive when you think about the 100 or more kilometres of fencing that needed to be cleared.”
“The comradery and support from town to country was overwhelming, it echoes the nature of our community. Southlanders really pull together.”
By March over 50 farmers had signed up for help from the service and although the flood is over, there are still a number of recovery projects and people that need support. The rural recovery programme is being led by the Southland Rural Support Trust which is an active part of the wider emergency response.
The Southland Rural Support Trust also played a key role in the flooding response, initially creating a base in a building at Environment Southland alongside the Emergency Coordination Centre.
For weeks, a dedicated team was kept busy phoning farmers throughout the region to check on the state of their properties, what help was required and then putting in place a variety of support.
They worked closely with the Farmy Army to get volunteers out to properties and also ensured those who needed supplies got what they needed, including delivering a large number of care packages to remind our rural community they were not alone.
