Lending a hand

Fonterra Clandeboye workshop mechanic Sam Vincent, left, and Fonterra Emergency Response Team member Gareth Fraser, of Whareroa, help with flood cleanup work on a Mid-Canterbury farm yesterday.

Fonterra workers have rolled up their sleeves and got to work helping farmers with the big flood cleanup.

Fonterra is targeting about 30 farms which were hit particularly badly, helping farmers get back on track.Fonterra Emergency Response Team (ERT) leader Stuart MacPherson, who has assisted in the cleanup process of several floods throughout the country over the years, said these floods were ‘‘particularly bad’’ in terms of scale.

He said the ERT crew helping out was made up mostly of people whose day jobs are at Clandeboye, and they have been working on farms since last Wednesday.

He said once Fonterra’s Farm Source and transport people had been out and about surveying the damage, it put in place the ERT.

‘‘It covered such a wide area, and the damage was really severe,’’

MacPherson said.

‘‘At this time of year, many farmers simply don’t have the resources or the staff to clean up after an event like this.’’

He said there would be several volunteers on each farm, dealing with aspects from repairing and installing new fences, and clearing the ground to mechanics fixing farm vehicles.

’’A lot of the volunteers don’t necessarily get the chance to connect with the farms very often so to help out in this way is very special.

‘‘The mechanics particularly enjoy fixing up the trucks that have been damaged.’’

MacPherson said the ERT featured about 20 people from around the country, and about a dozen volunteers from Clandeboye.

‘‘For all of them, this is an extra role, they’re volunteering their time towards the cleanup,’’ he said.

‘‘But everyone gets a lot out of it, just seeing the results of the cleanup is really satisfying.’’

MacPherson said it was devastating seeing ‘‘previously perfectly put together farms turned into riverbeds’’.

‘‘The floods just went through everything in a lot of cases, you just see everything washed away.’’

He said volunteers had previously received significant training for emergency events such as flooding, so ‘‘everyone knows what their job is’’.

He said the volunteers would have walked about five kilometres a day just through putting up fences and clearing out damaged farms.

‘‘I’ve really found throughout this that many hands make light work.

‘‘You would think that the work would never be done, but it’s amazing what you can do together as a team,’’ he said.

‘‘It’s backbreaking work, but when you get those farmers shaking your hand afterwards, you know it’s all worth it.’’

MacPherson estimated the bulk of the work should be completed by Sunday.