Canterbury Farming Community Resilience Highlighted In Floods

Tuesday, 6 April 2021 at 12:21pm

To make matters worse, this all happened right around the annual time that many farmers normally pack up their families, possessions and herds and move anywhere from a few kilometres up the road to right across the region or country. This task was impossible with homes flooded, stock separated and transport in some places limited to quads, tractors and even boats.

Farmers are resilient folk. The weather is a constant cause of concern for all decision making and one old mate for over 40 years has checked the rain gauge every morning before a cup of tea or breakfast. These floods we've had over the past week, have been unlike anything experienced before and have pushed the Canterbury farming community to the limits. Contingency and emergency plans have proven worth all the time and effort that goes into preparing them.

As always, our rural communities have stepped up in a myriad of ways to support each other and get through an incredibly stressful ordeal. From small acts of kindness like rescuing pets and sharing meals, to looking after a neighbour's stranded herd, people have reached out tirelessly. As usual, this help has been provided with a smile or a hug, and often the understated dry humour of people used to doing more and saying less. 

There is a long clean-up ahead and still a lot of disruption to manage, but small rural communities across Canterbury have demonstrated the strength and values required to get through, get on with it, and continue to succeed.

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