After the storm, cleanup focuses on decay and mud

By JAMES GARDINER

In the backblocks of Wanganui the flood damage has been so great that clean-up work has barely begun.

Just surviving has been the priority for locals.

Roads have been cleared over the past week only to be blocked again as more rain has undermined waterlogged hillsides.

Farmers in the Whangaehu River valleys, which stretch 30km inland from the main road, SH3, have seen flood waters up to 4m high inundate their paddocks, orchards and homes.

A deep layer of mud, silt and black volcanic ash coats everything on the lowlands of Kauangaroa, Ngaturi and Okirae.

And in among it lies the decaying carcasses of scores of sheep and cattle, a breeding ground for maggots as the summer sun and drying winds make their presence felt.

For local residents still without power, telephone, water or transport, a group of pest destruction workers has become a lifeline.

Normally Kevin Battersby and his team of 12 from the Manawatu-Wanganui Regional Council, Horizons MW, do contract killing of opossums, rabbits and rooks.

But in their new role on the Civil Defence front line, the animals they seek are already dead.

Immediately after last week's floods, they used four-wheel-drives to deliver food parcels.

Then, with chainsaws, they took to the fallen trees blocking roads and driveways.

Now they are concentrating on trying to prevent health problems arising from the death and decay.

Mr Battersby said most of his team were familiar with the rugged countryside they were working in and many knew the locals by name.

"We've become the ears and eyes of Civil Defence back at headquarters," he said yesterday.

The team had so far retrieved about 100 rotting sheep carcasses, some stuck up trees and on bridges.

Cattle carcasses are being left for heavier lift equipment to move them.

Mr Battersby said the aim was to get them away from homes and people.