Flooded farm fails to dampen spirits

Rosalind Smeath (right) with Katrina Paniona and her grandson Tyrell Himiona. Photo / Greg Bowker

Two-thirds of Rosalind Smeath's 89ha farm is underwater but the heavily pregnant Northland woman is still smiling - at least for now.

The 28-year-old managed to move all of her stock to higher ground before Tuesday night's deluge and she has enough feed to keep the 145-strong herd happy for 30 more days.

By then, she hopes her flooded farm at Maromaku - just south of Kawakawa - will have dried out enough for the stock to feed from it again and her second baby will be born.

But keeping things stress-free until the baby arrives will rely on whether any more rain hits the already sodden Far North - much of which is underwater.

"I just don't want it to flood any more," Ms Smeath said yesterday.

Her partner, Colin Simpson, said the paddocks would probably take a week to dry out, but the grass would be covered in silt and it would take time to remove that. Fences now underwater would also need to be mended and cleared of debris.

"We know the property floods but it doesn't normally happen for another month," said Mr Simpson. "If we get a follow-up of water now ... then the farmers are all in trouble."

Maromaku was one of many Far North settlements dealing with floodwaters yesterday after two heavy downpours since Saturday. In most areas, prepared residents were relieved the rain was not as bad as predicted - although it still left a trail of chaos.

Floodwaters claimed at least one life near Kawakawa. Another person, the partner of a dead woman found trapped in a fence, was also missing last night.

In Kaeo, many of the town's surrounding paddocks were underwater and cluttered by debris. Several roads were impassable to all but four-wheel-drive vehicles and one lane of SH10, just south of Kaeo, was closed after the surface collapsed.

Floodwaters also blocked roads near Kawakawa and Moerewa and a large slip blocked a lane on SH11 between Kawakawa and Paihia.