Locals pitch in with donations for Edgecumbe

People around Rotorua and further afield have been quick to offer aid to the thousands affected by the Edgecumbe flooding.

A Facebook page, Kia Kaha Edgecumbe, was set up last night and has since garnered more than 1700 members.

On the page people are co-ordinating pick up and drop off zones for donations, which items are needed and where help can be directed.

Those running the page are also hoping to co-ordinate a clean-up exercise when it becomes safe to re-enter the town.

Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology's agriculture department has offered its students to help with the clean-up next week.

Tutor Rachel Nash said she had nine students able to help in whatever capacity needed with a trailer, spades and fencing tools.

"It will be a horrendously big job but right now there's not much we can do. When the water subsides we will go wherever we are needed, clearing debris, cleaning out troughs and fixing fencing.

"Most of my students are in the same situation, having their homes completely flooded but immediately they asked what they could do to help."

Ms Nash said the whole situation had taken an emotional toll on people, particularly those who had children home alone at the time of the flooding.

"It's not getting any better, it's actually getting worse and we won't know the extent of the damage until the water is cleared. There will be days next week where we will be throwing everything in skip bins."

She said she believed this flood was worse than the 2004 flooding, but saw a silver lining.

"If you could take anything good from all this it's that Edgecumbe is an amazing community. It rallied together during the 2004 floods and it will rally together again this time."

Mr Rental Rotorua, which services the Whakatane district, is offering goods for those at evacuation centres and will offer a discount to families once they are able to go back into their homes.

"It's just horrific," customer service employee Kate Emery said.

"We really feel for all those families who have lost all their possessions, there's an awful lot of people affected by this so we just wanted to help in any way we could."

Ms Emery said while they had limited stock, they would offer a 25 per cent discount to those affected by the flooding.

"We're anticipating most people will be needing whiteware - fridges, freezers, washing machines, but we will offer all our stock at a discount.

"We hope they can recover quickly and want to help in that process."

Rotorua Cooper Tyres is doing a food, clothing and blanket drop, asking people to drop anything they can spare, including pet food, at its office at 170A Lake Rd.

Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick said they had offered Edgecumbe help.

"If there is anything we can do we will be there.

"We were very lucky... When you see the devastation there were were so lucky."