Monday 10am: Heavy rain for Northland, Coromandel Peninsula, Bay of Plenty and Gisborne from Tolaga Bay northwards.

Heavy rain may cause streams and rivers to rise rapidly. Surface flooding and slips are also possible and driving conditions may be hazardous.

Before severe rain

· Keep an eye on weather reports and enact your plans for moving stock and supplementary feed to higher ground if needed.

· Clear gutters and drains where possible

· Have to hand a smartphone, a charger for the car, a torch, and a battery-powered radio

· Check your insurance cover details

During a flood or storm

· Keep an eye on https://www.civildefence.govt.nz/ and your regional council websites/facebook or radio station

· The safety of you, your family, and workers comes first.

· Move stock to safety, shelter and water and make sure they can't wander. Are the electric fences working?

· Turn off utilities if told to do so by authorities as it can help prevent damage to your home or community. Unplug small appliances to avoid damage from power surges.

· Do not attempt to drive or walk through floodwaters unless essential.

· Check power and phones. Report outages.

· Check dogs, poultry and pets.

· Check on neighbours - do they need help or can they help you?

· Check buildings at risk, feed stacks. · Use generators if necessary to keep pumps, refrigeration, electric fences and household appliances running. Flood pumps may need attention. 

Further information:

https://www.dairynz.co.nz/business/adverse-events/flood/

https://beeflambnz.com/news-views/topics/flooding

MPI Animal welfare 

Safety first

• Don't put yourself at risk from contaminated water, damaged roads, or landslides and other hazards.
• Look for and report broken power lines to your electricity provider. Treat all lines as live.
• Trees may be unstable due to saturated ground and high winds.
• Be conscious of security. Lock your car and house. Report suspicious activity to police.

Health and wellbeing

• Throw away food and water that has been contaminated by floodwater.
• Avoid drinking or preparing food with tap water until you are certain it is not contaminated.

Your property

• Report flooded homes and any need for temporary accommodation to your local council.
• Assess damage to water supply and reticulation systems. Which stock water troughs are contaminated with silt and will need cleaning?
• Assess damage to access lanes, tracks, gateways, culverts, and fences. What flood debris needs to be cleared?
• Assess damage to pastures and the depth and type of silt.
• Assess available non-flooded pastures and other unaffected feed reserves.
• Accept help when offered, and ask for it if you need it.
• Take photos of damage and contact your insurer.

• Your Rural Support Trust is available to call for help or info for farmers – 0800 787 254.

https://www.westlanddc.govt.nz/emergency-management

https://www.facebook.com/centraltaranakisafecommunitytrust/videos/2296467993701776/

John Shackleton events in Stratford yesterday encouraged the audience to consider mindfulness (it's not scary) and breathing meditations to enable thoughts to be current and now. Our wiring needs to be changed so we stop thinking about things we have NO CONTROL over such as guilt over past events or anxiety about the future. After 21 days you will notice a big improvement in wellbeing.