Ashburton flooding: Farmers call for more financial support to ease pressure rnz.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from rnz.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Caroline Amyes05:00, Jun 06 2021
CAROLINE AMYES
The Selwyn River breaks its banks at Bealey Rd, during flooding earlier this week.
OPINION: On Monday, May 24 the long-range forecast showed some pretty serious rainfall on the way. We were hopeful it would ease over the ensuing days but two days later there was no change. No warnings were out at this stage and we were worried some farmers might not be aware of what was coming at them. We don’t normally do weather alerts, but decided to send out an email to our Canterbury Federated Farmers members, so they could start preparing. On Thursday the ‘Red alert’ was announced. If the forecast was right, this was going to be big. Over the next few days farmers focused on getting stock on the highest ground available and moving feed close for ease of access.
Farmers worked in dangerous conditions yesterday to rescue animals and move stock as intense rainfall plummeted the Canterbury region, the Mid-Canterbury F