23 Jun 2014

Storm clean up for Coromandel farms

4:44 pm on 23 June 2014

Farmers in Northern Coromandel are into a massive cleanup operation after a storm on 10 June caused flooding, slips and erosion.

The devastation went unnoticed by people outside the region until footage was posted on You Tube on Saturday.

It's estimated a metre of rain fell in just six hours, damaging land, farm buildings and equipment, as well as flooding roads. Many have said it will take years to clean up the damage.

Theo Ward farms near Port Jackson.

"It just sweeped all fences away or buried them. There are huge banks of logs, rock and silt," she said.

She said the area has experienced floods before.

"It's a high rain fall area where my farm is. We have had these inconveniences before, it is just that it is massive this time. We are slowly putting up new boundary fences with the help of friends."

Another farmer, Marcus Ward, who farms at Colville, said he currently has about 120-hectares of land out of use.

"We will just work at it slowly, at this stage the fences that matter have been put back up".

He said all floodgates have gone and it will take years to repair the storm damage.

"It is just a matter of cleaning up and getting seed down, which will grow".

Watch the You Tube video here