Insurers brace for flood claims
Entire crops have been destroyed after flooding on farms in the upper North Island, rural insurers FMG says.
Head of claims Nicki Mackay said assessors were evaluating damage in Northland, Auckland, Waikato, and Bay of Plenty, but would not get a complete picture of losses yet as more wet weather was forecast.
Road closures affected assessors’ ability to get to some areas but the insurer was prioritising areas that had the worst damage, Mackay said.
There were reports of fully flooded rural properties, submerged vehicles, total loss of farm crops, and loss of stock and produce, she said.
Te Kōhanga dairy farmer Jonelle Hewitt said she and husband Martin Hewitt used four flood pumps for five days to clear water from paddocks. A single pump could pump more than 1 million litres of water an hour into the Waikato River, she said.
The farm was at the bottom of a range of hills and received a lot of runoff, Hewitt said.
Stock was moved to higher ground a few hours before a stopbank overflowed, Hewitt said.
The couple would be able to claim insurance for damaged fences and races, she said.
A bedroom in their farmhouse was flooded, and some damage had occurred to tools in garages. But the farm and animals were their first priority, Hewitt said.
They also used diggers to clear drains and get water flowing out of paddocks, she said.
Rural portfolios executive manager at insurer Vero, Sonya Whitney, said a number of rural claims had been received, mostly for damage to houses.
People in rural areas should check bridges for structural damage after floodwater receded, and clear debris and check culverts to ensure they remained intact, Whitney said.
Ministry for Primary Industries director of rural communities and farming support Nick Story said the ministry had not received any requests from farmers for recovery assistance.
Feed supplies remained satisfactory, Story said but milk collection was affected on some farms.
Flooding in Pukekohe had affected some vegetable growers and the ministry and Horticulture NZ were working to assess damage, he said.
A Pukekohe grower reported that about 10 tonnes of onions were washed onto a neighbour’s property.
DairyNZ farm performance general manager Sarah Speight said such wet weather was unprecedented and was challenging after an already wet winter and spring.
There was serious damage to a number of dairy farms in pockets of Northland, south Auckland, Waikato and Bay of Plenty, Speight said.
Farmers lost fences, races, bridges and had feed crops and stored feed damaged, Speight said.
Fonterra national transport and logistics general manager Paul Phipps said despite widespread flooding there was minimal disruption to milk collection.
The Coromandel Peninsula was the worst affected area as flooding and road slips had made collections more difficult, Phipps said.
SPCA chief executive Gabby Clezy said it was in contact with the Ministry for Primary Industries, which co-ordinated the emergency response for animal displacement.
‘‘If you need to evacuate, you should take your pets with you. If it isn’t safe for you, it isn’t safe for them.’’