Recovery from lower North Island floods will be long and arduous

Recovering from the floods which devastated the lower North Island in February will be a long and arduous process, and it could be two years before people can put their losses behind them, says an Australian psychologist.

Rob Gordon, a consultant psychologist with the Victoria Disaster Recovery Plan, visited Palmerston North this week to talk to those affected by the floods and those who are helping them.

The visit, his second to the area since February, was organised by the Department of Labour and Child, Youth and Family.

He said people were only now starting to talk about their problems.

"We are getting stories about people who are talking about their problems, but who are not finding it easy to come up with solutions," he said.

Recovery from such a traumatic event was a long-haul journey, he said, and people should not try to fix everything immediately.

"It takes a couple of years to get through it, and people should be thinking about how they will get support to last the distance."

Many people would soon be feeling the full effects of what had happened and it was important that they looked after their health.

- NZPA