Anyika Scotland of Vet Services Hawke’s Bay was on one of the first helicopters out to the isolated Patoka area after Cyclone Gabrielle struck.
Anyika Scotland of Vet Services Hawke’s Bay was on one of the first helicopters out to the isolated Patoka area after Cyclone Gabrielle struck.
A Hawke’s Bay vet who was helicoptered into the isolated Patoka area the weekend after Cyclone Gabrielle struck has been named National Sheep and Beef Cattle Veterinarian of the Year.
Anyika Scotland of Vet Services was presented with the award at the NZVA Centenary Conference, held at the new Takina Events Centre in Wellington this month.
Anyika Scotland receives her National Sheep and Beef Cattle Veterinarian of the Year Award from Will Halliday, president of the Society of Sheep and Beef Cattle Veterinarians.
Anyika spent a number of years working at Vet Services Waipukurau Clinic and is now based at Vet Services Hastings. She says it is still sinking in that she won the award.
“I didn’t know I had been nominated. I was at the conference as a speaker and it was sprung on me. I found it a little hard to take in as I don’t like being in the spotlight. There are a lot people involved and I think the key thing is that we all work hard to look after our farmers.”
Speaking at the conference Anyika shared her experience in the cyclone recovery. As someone involved in the sheep and beef industry her entire life, she says the destruction from Gabrielle was like nothing she has seen before.
Anyika has been involved in the sheep and beef industry her entire life.
In her presentation, Anyika said “In rural Havelock North our family woke up that Tuesday to no power, two large trees blown over, and the house completely surrounded by water, ankle-deep and rising. Given the rainfall, surface water wasn’t too shocking as our property is on a rural floodplain, so we had no idea of the devastation occurring elsewhere in the region.
“Not knowing what was going on would be a recurring theme for the next couple of weeks, as the cyclone took out roads, bridges, power networks and then vital communication infrastructure across the region. It would take days before we could establish contact.
“From a work perspective, a tentative visit to the Hastings clinic on the Wednesday was my first move. Surprisingly the clinic was a welcome hive of activity with lights, hot water and limited communications. It was there that I started to hear about the full impact of floodbanks burst, houses and orchards destroyed, and many people made homeless, some of whom were having a hot shower and meal at the clinic.
The NZ Defence Force taking supplies to Rissington, Puketitiri and Patoka after Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / Paul Taylor
“Luckily our health and safety team had done a scenario plan for flooding and we could spring into action with teams working from the Napier and Hastings clinics. Road closures were everywhere; it was really just about survival in the early stages.
“The clinic phones were quiet. Our first calls started to trickle in via mainly Messenger and WhatsApp, mainly for horses. These animals were being found in random locations with huge wounds to their legs, and often no owner able to be identified. If we could get to them, we just had to do what we could.
“When it was the owners calling us often they were more worried about their animals than the fact they had lost their house and everything they owned.”
With improving communications, an immediate priority was contacting farming clients, most of whom were completely cut off by slips.
““We wanted to check if they were safe and okay, what could we do to help, what supplies did they need, how could we get out to them? Farmers desperately needed gas bottles to cook with, petrol and generators to keep their fridge and freezers going.
“Some dairy cows were being milked using diesel generators but this wasn’t viable for long, as diesel ran out and tankers could not pick up the milk anyway.
“Helicopters were appearing and product was being flown to those in need but coordination remained a huge problem. Establishment of community hubs set up by the Civil Defence started to bring order, and allowed better distribution.
“A helicopter base at the Hastings showgrounds meant the sky was like a war zone with Army and local helicopters flying all day with food, generators, fuel, dog food and dry cow products.”
“The sky was like a war zone.” The HB Civil Defence Emergency Management Group regional distribution centre at Tomoana Showgrounds, Hastings, in the weeks after Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / Paul Taylor
“We travelled more than most other people, witnessing scenes of destruction all across Hawke’s Bay, most of which is still there months later.
“Many rural roads were closed or had one-lane sections as slips were slowly being cleared, mud and silt was all over the roads and then piled up beside it, flooded abandoned cars were dotted around paddocks or in roadside drains. Shattered houses had what looked like graffiti, after being spray painted with Civil Defence inspection records.”
While the vets saw the impact across the region, farmers were dealing with crises at home and in their communities.
There was no electricity, farmers were cut off from their land and stock, bridges and culverts had vanished overnight, huge expanses of fences were lost to slips, water pumps and equipment damaged, stock was everywhere, or had simply disappeared.
“Where do you start?”
The Vet Services team established a three-stage process to work through with clients in managing their stock challenges:
Gain access - nothing can be achieved if you can’t get there. Tricky for farmers who do not have the equipment needed.
Water - many water systems were lost and stock urgently needed water. It was a huge stress on farmers to see areas of their farms with no water supply.
Animal health - animals injured from the slips needed to be treated or put down. Stock with flystrike needed to be shorn or dipped. Lambs needed to be drenched as worms were still an issue.
Other animal health issues seen at the time included eye infections due to the dust, pneumonia, wire stuck around legs and other infected wounds.
Anyika Scotland keeps reminding clients to look back on what they have achieved since the cyclone.
In human terms, aside from mental health and fatigue issues, some farmers also contracted leptospirosis.
“When making client contact or responding to calls, we took care to always ask about client and family wellbeing first, tried to be sensitive to each individual situation, and not make assumptions. Levels of impact on land and people have varied hugely and financial and emotional recovery will take years in many situations.
“Many farmers are just shattered; you can see it in their faces. From their perspective, decisions are getting harder to make, mistakes are easy, and every day is a repetitive grind just trying to get back on track.
“I keep reminding clients to look back on what they have achieved since the cyclone, not at the whole list of what needs to be done. Encouraging them to get off the farm for just a night, or to catch up with friends and family on the phone.
“Taking the time to have a chat is vital; many interesting topics have been covered in some of our evening client calls.
“We’re also conscious of our own vet welfare; we’ve seen a lot of horrible things, road trips and routine tasks take longer than usual, and we feel like we’ve been on high alert for an extended period of time. So it’s vital to enjoy our days off and try to balance the perspective a bit.
“On the positive side we’ve all seen and heard some amazing stories of people pulling together and providing community support; getting kids ferried across rivers and off to school, farmers clearing roads with their own equipment, volunteers and supplies turning up from all over New Zealand, and many new connections being made.”
Anyika says the wider community needs to be aware that farmers are still battling.
“I found it hard to accept an award while people are struggling, but I have seen some impressive work by communities and individuals, the Rural Support Trust has done outstanding work and community hubs have been of huge benefit. There has been a lot of good work done and no doubt there will be more.”
Anyika’s colleagues at Vet Services Hawke’s Bay say they couldn’t be prouder of her national Sheep and Beef Cattle Veterinarian of the Year Award, and they are thrilled to see her passion for production animal work and her dedication to her community recognised by the NZVA.
She now has to take some of her own advice and get “off farm”, as part of her award is a mystery weekend away. “And that’s pretty cool,” she says.
