34 | Cyclone Gabrielle: ‘a bomb’s hit us’ Flooding receeds leaving silt covered flats. Tracey Edwardes RURAL PEOPLE » Kotu Station A forward-thinking action plan was Kotu Station’s saviour in Cyclone Gabrielle. Farm Manager Simon Stevens woke with an alert at 5am to expect 150m of rain - which burgeoned to 314mm in just 18 hours. “I had three men in the shearer’s quarters to get out, as our bridge is low lying. Thankfully we did, as it was eventually under 5m of water. The flats were already wet so most of stock were safely uphill. We saved run bulls from the flat, but lost 18 lambs.” Simon and Heather Stevens have managed Kotu Station since 1994, originally part of 23000ha Tinui Station, until it was split off in the late ‘70s. Kotu was the last part owned by the original Maunsell family descendants, and then sold in 2007 to Rob Morrison. Simon rang Rob on 13 February and announced “a bomb’s hit us!” “Two days later Mark Shelton took us in his helicopter to check the boundaries. Priority was keeping stock on the property - 4500 Romney ewes, 160 Angus cows, plus replacements. “Thankfully the ewes and hoggets were in mobs already and the cows had calves with them. We concentrated on the covered yards, load-out facilities and woodshed, all around 1.5m underwater and 350ml of silt. Scotty Newman contractors dropped tools for us and had everything cleared out in 10 days.” He described the storm as “bizarre and very localised, like a tornado.” Tinui village, five minutes away, fared much worse. “Mapping showed we lost 20-25% in slips from our 1420ha. We’re predominately heavy mudstone. Much of the land was ready to slip with 2m of rain in twelve months. It’s very fertile soil which moves around, but heals itself pretty quickly, being metres deep.” Simon remembered after Cyclone Bola some farmers had sown grass seed successfully. “After 1st March we put 1500kgs of seed and 200kg of super phosphate on 800ha. We downgraded to winter stock numbers, with no surplus, and sold 70 two-year-old old Angus steers which we usually keep through.” After a fortuitous meeting with digger-operator Bill Laing, offering his 40 year’s experience, Simon bought a digger to remove slips off fence lines, clear access tracks, clean slips from all the damns, and fallen willows that took out fences. Time-saving shortcuts helped, for example precutting fencing patches rather than taking the whole roll up. Looking after staff’s welfare was imperative. “Hamish Mitchell has been with me 26 years, Riki for two years and our Future Farmer student, Chanica, had the rare experience of seeing a farm put back together.” Simon and his wife Heather, a teacher, have survived through adversity before. They have a daughter Tessa, but lost their son James to depression. “We are fortunate the Tinui community is so incredible.It’s about looking out for each other. We’ve also had help from Taskforce Green, Rural Support and even a Rabobank team to pluck fences. “Rolling with the punches, making lists, ticking them off, and tidying everything up, helps with mental health - and we’re fortunate to have an employer who backs us to the hilt. Within 20 days conveyers and diggers had everything cleaned out and sorted. The water drained away pretty quick. We didn’t have to drop any ewes and new grass has now covered the slips.” Kotu Station Proud to support : info@lala.co.nz • Export Stock • Store Stock • Wholesale Stock • Valuations • Clearing Sales • Advice Proud to be supporting Kotu Station in all livestock transactions For a prompt and reliable service Contact Craig Nelson Ph: 06 378 8566 • Mobile 021 457 127 • Office 06 377 7105 Email craig@crnelso.co.nz • www.crnelson.co.nz The largest range of side by sides in the Wairarapa We servuce and repair all makes and models of ATV’s, Side by Sides and Bikes. YOUR THREE SOLID CHOICES Sargent Motorcycles | 388 High Street South, Carterton 5713 | sargentmotorcycles.nz
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