Tide of donations flows for flood victims

By ROSALEEN MACBRAYNE

New Zealanders have opened their hearts and wallets to the flood-stricken residents of the Bay of Plenty.

By mid-afternoon yesterday, the Whakatane/Opotiki mayoral disaster relief fund was sitting at just under $300,000.

The Government has said it will match the mayoral appeal dollar for dollar.

Officials say money is the best bet as it can be used for specific needs.

Although the Whakatane District Council opened a collection point at the Strand East Army Hall yesterday for items that well-meaning people have given, they do not want to be overloaded with secondhand goods.

That happened in Manawatu after February's floods. Relief agencies were swamped with goods from throughout the country.

Some of the items were unusable and emergency volunteers' time was taken up sorting a mountain of apparel and household paraphernalia.

For health reasons, clothing had to be cleaned and electrical appliances checked for safety.

Barry Low, the emergency manager for Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty, and Tauranga Mayor Jan Beange have encouraged people to donate money to help their Eastern Bay neighbours.

Inundating an area with secondhand goods did not help the local economy, which also had to recover, said Mr Low, who has been assisting in Whakatane this week.

"Money can be targeted to where it will do the most good."

He said the flooding was a wake-up call for people with the attitude "It will never happen here".

"It is very close to home. These things do happen in the Bay of Plenty - and without an awful lot of warning," said Mr Low.

"Our saving grace [the Western Bay] is that we don't have any major rivers."

Now was a good time for people to check their emergency kits and take another look at the disaster response instructions inside the telephone directory cover, he said.

Everyone should take responsibility for his or her own safety and be prepared to look after themselves for up to three days in case help could not reach them immediately.