A rain gauge measured 215mm of rain falling over a 12-hour period in the area during the weekend.
Photo: Supplied
A Tolaga Bay farmer is facing a year of repairs after a weekend deluge – just months after finishing work from previous storm damage.
A low pressure system brought heavy rain and thunderstorms to northern parts of the country over the weekend, causing surface flooding, felling trees, and forcing the evacuation of up to 30 campers in Tolaga Bay.
Greg Shelton, a local farmer and area manager for Tolaga Bay Civil Defence, said it will take at least three days to assess the full extent of the damage to his property.
While some farms experienced significant damage, Federated Farmers noted that others welcomed the rainfall as a reprieve from near-drought conditions.
‘Pretty Damn Hard’ to Recover
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Shelton’s farm was cut off and sustained extensive damage during the intense, localized downpours. A rain gauge near his property, approximately 8 kilometers east of Tolaga Bay, recorded 215 millimeters of rain over a 12-hour period during the weekend. He estimated that more than half of that rainfall occurred during an hour and a half of severe thunderstorms on Saturday night.
“Other farms around here were recording half or a quarter of that, so unfortunately we got caught in that weather bomb. We got hit particularly hard for an hour and a half and that’s really what did the most of the damage,” Shelton said.
Shelton explained that his farm is “back at square one” after completing repairs following damage from storms in March 2022. “We’re dealing with most fences down, roads that need a lot attention. The main access road is a narrow pathway now to get vehicles in and out. Then we sit down and look at animal health issues and then boundary fences and try to prioritize everything.”
“It is huge, there’s a lot of mud, a lot of logs, a lot of debris in them and it’s just a case of ‘we’ve been here before’ we just take a breath and try to prioritize things which is pretty damn hard,” Shelton said.
He anticipates the repairs will take up to a year to complete. “We know this will take all winter. We’re a steep hill country property. We have to fly gear out by helicopters – we just don’t get to a repair job by lunchtime,” Shelton said.
Shelton described feeling “a possum caught in the headlights” on Sunday morning, but expressed gratitude for the support of his son and family as they faced the daunting task ahead.
The weekend’s events marked the first time in nearly 40 years of involvement with local Civil Defence that he was unable to participate in setting up the community’s emergency center. “The Uawa/Tolaga Bay Civil Defence team stood up and they had young people come on board and I can’t praise them enough,” he said.
A Mixed Bag for Farmers
Charlie Reynolds, Gisborne and Wairoa provincial president of Federated Farmers, said some farmers were severely impacted by the weather, while others benefited from the much-needed rain. He noted that the rainfall over the New Year break and last weekend was the first significant precipitation in the area since October.
“We were gearing up with MPI [Ministry for Primary Industries] to declare a drought. A lot of people were getting pretty worried.”
“The first lot of rain – just before New Year’s Eve – just soaked into the ground which was brilliant. This second lot has filled the dams and tanks. It’s one of those mixed bags – some people get hammered some people get saved,” Reynolds said.
Community Steps Up
Ūawa deputy Civil Defence officer Nori Parata said the area generally fared well, as the weather system’s direction limited its impact on the Hikuwai River’s water levels.
Nearly 40 people sought shelter in the Tolaga Bay Area School’s gymnasium on Saturday night, most of whom were campers from low-lying areas of the nearby Tolaga Bay Top 10 Camp. Parata explained that the number of evacuees could have been higher, but rising waters cut off the route between the camp and the school.
“We were very pleased the camp operators took action when they did – at around 8.30 pm – while it was still light. If they had waited a couple of hours it would have been a very different situation. It would have been drama, the rain was torrential,” Parata said.
Parata praised local volunteers who quickly set up mattresses, bedding, and prepared the school kitchen for evacuees. “They are a well oiled machine and they work well together. We had TV, we had packs of cards, there was a jovial atmosphere. When we gave them access to the wi-fi, the teenagers all cheered.”
State Highway 35 reopened to traffic before 9 a.m. on Sunday, allowing evacuees to leave the gymnasium later that day.
Shelton said the community is becoming accustomed to preparing for adverse weather events as soon as severe weather forecasts are issued. “This is going to be a norm unfortunately. Warmer water temperatures, warmer atmosphere, cooler ground temperatures, it’s a recipe for more events like this weather localised or throughout the Cape. We are going to get more of them I’m afraid,” Shelton said.
