Minister offers $100k extra relief funding
Civil Defence Minister Peeni Henare has announced a further $100,000 of funding will be available for Southland and says more support will be ongoing.
Henare arrived yesterday in the south, where he was flown across the district to see the impact of the flooding in the region. A state of emergency had been declared in Southland on Tuesday.
Afterwards, Henare announced that $100,000 from the Mayoral Relief Fund could be utilised in Southland.
Southland mayors will be able to decide where the funding would be used. ‘‘They are the boots on the ground,’’ Henare said.
The announcement follows one earlier this week by Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor, who unlocked $100,000 of funding for the Rural Support Trusts to help speed up the recovery of farming businesses, including pastoral support and specialist technical advice.
Southland mayoral forum chairman and Gore District mayor Tracy Hicks said: ‘‘While there was lots of infrastructure problems and challenges we need to deal with quickly, the real issue is people and just making sure people are safe and secure in their homes.’’
He said it would take about 10 days to decide a plan for the funding.
Henare said: ‘‘In our very brief visit to Mataura it almost had a sense of business as usual. But there is no doubt some longer-term planning and thinking [that] has to be done to make sure that, should this event happen in the future, towns like Mataura, Wyndham and others are better prepared.’’
Henare said he would brief the prime minister and the full Cabinet on Monday about the Southland event and recovery.
Hicks flew with Henare across the district and said it was good to have a minister attend at such a challenging time.
‘‘We need help ... Certainly the resourcefulness of the Southland people is known across the nation, but it is always good to welcome someone from Wellington who can assist us in many ways.’’
Hundreds of residents of Mataura were evacuated on Wednesday after a state of emergency was declared because of flooding in Southland.
Gore and Wyndham residents were also evacuated but those in Mataura had the longest wait to get back home because of the concern of floodwaters around an old paper mill in the town that contains the dangerous substance ouvea premix.
A Mataura resident who arrived home to find his house flooded on Thursday said he was flabbergasted by the destruction.
‘‘Everything was strewn everywhere. Everything that was on the floor is gone. There was absolutely nothing I could do. I’m just flabbergasted,’’ Norm Corbett said, fighting back tears.
Corbett has lived in his house for 13 years and said that while he has experienced flooding before ‘‘it was nowhere near as bad as this’’.
His neighbours across the road have offered him a place to rest and he said it’s likely that he’ll have to stay there for a few days.
In the meantime, he’ll be waiting to hear from his insurance company. Corbett acknowledged the excellent work done by police, council and civil defence staff.
Ron Cormack and Danya Soper had to make use of the Mataura Community Centre yesterday morning after returning home on Thursday night.
Soper, whose brother, Cormack, lives on Main St, said they’d found water coming up through the floorboards.
Everything inside the house was damp, she said. ‘‘The whole section was flooded.’’
But Soper remained positive. ‘‘There’s people out there worse off than us.’’