Photo: RNZ / Andrew Johnstone
- Storm-hit farmers are tired, cold and cut off from communications
- More support hubs are being set up
- Rural Support Trust says focus is moving to human welfare
More than 200 dairy farms across Southland are still relying on generators to keep their cows milked, sometimes borrowing them from neighbours or moving them between sheds.
Rural Support Trust spokesperson Katrina Thomas said the immediate focus after the storm was on animal welfare: ensuring there were enough generators to get cows milked.
"But now we've actually moved to concentrating more on the humans. That's due to the fatigue of the ongoing situation because there's a minimum of 200 cowsheds out there that don't have direct power.
"So you've got farmers fatigued because it's been going on for a few days, they may not have had showers, proper meals or be looking themselves properly."
Rural Support was working with the Emergency Management Southland welfare team to set up more support hubs.
A Fire and Emergency New Zealand generator circulating in the community to support critical infrastructure, dairy sheds, and community hubs. Photo: Emergency Management Southland / Supplied
"So they can at least go and have a shower, have some kai, connect with others and just do the laundry."
Uncertainty causing stress
Trust deputy chair Georgette Wouda, who was also at the Emergency Management command centre today, said on top of the four or five welfare hubs already set up, they had identified about a dozen more locations across Southland, which needed help.
"Some houses have got fireplaces, so that's fine. But a lot of the newer places have only got heatpumps, so they're sitting in the dark, they're cold, they need to charge up things," she said.
"Within a 20km radius, you can have communities that are okay, they've got power back, and you can have another 5km down the road that haven't got anything yet.
"They're dotted all over the place, often on little side roads, right across the district."
In addition to struggling with exhaustion, many farmers were also anxious about the health of their animals and about not knowing when they would have power again, Wouda said.
"It's the uncertainty that's so stressful."
Communication 'dead spots'
Thomas said the lines company PowerNet continued to do "an amazing job" in reconnecting properties, but some people faced an uncertain wait, complicated by communication problems.
"It's not like a flood because at least people can drive around - in the urban areas, things are up and running - but we've still got these communication dead spots."
Generators dropped off by Hercules had got many cellphone towers powered up, but lots were still down.
A 500kVA generator at Te Anau Wastewater treatment plant. Photo: Emergency Management Southland / Supplied
"So you can't just pick up the phone and have a yarn. That's why we're encouraging people to check on their cousins, their neighbours."
Those with generators had been able to plug in Starlinks and use apps like WhatsApp to communicate, she said.
"We were doing a lot of that on farm and with neighbours in the beginning.
"I was wondering if we could send a Facebook message or something to Elon Musk and ask him to move them over the bottom of New Zealand, please!"
According to a briefing this morning from Fonterra, about 30 percent of suppliers in Otago and Southland were still without mains power.
Thomas said some milk was still being dumped, but very little compared with straight after the storm.
"Three days ago, the tanker turned up to 42 sheds with milk; it was 32 yesterday and five this morning.
"Those that skipped a pick-up [because the milk did not meet the grade or for some other reason] was 150 three days ago, 86 yesterday and 39 today."
Generators deployed across Southland
Emergency Management Southland is moving 31 generators around to support critical infrastructure, dairy sheds and community hubs.
A 45kva generator at Otautau Wastewater Treatment Plant. Photo: Emergency Management Southland / Supplied
Controller Vibhuti Chopra said power restoration was "progressing well", with many rural properties reconnected and dairy operations returning to normal.
"Farmers across Southland have rallied together - sharing generators, opening their dairy sheds to neighbours, and ensuring animals are milked and watered through challenging conditions," she said.
Most of the 31 generators being deployed by Emergency Management Southland in key locations had come from outside the region, but some had been shared locally, including one from Fire and Emergency New Zealand.
"In addition, there are many generators that were already here and are now in use by Southland District Council at their wastewater and drinking water plants and the milking companies to support their dairy farmers."
Chopra said the authorities were grateful to those "communities who are supporting each other to get through".
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