“You’re up at seven, working in chaos ‘til seven o’clock at night, and you just can’t think straight.”
Sarah Douglas reckons that the flood waters were five foot higher than anything she’s ever seen in her 22 years of living in Ngātimoti.
“It just went through everything,” she says.
Sarah was at Motueka High School’s Te Maatu cultural centre last week, grabbing a box of food to take home – a way for her to save both time and money, she says, as she is expecting an enormous power bill after finally switching off the heaters and dehumidifiers that are drying out her home.
The Te Maatu supplies have been pouring in from the community, from people’s home kitchens and from local businesses, and the team at community group Meals for Motueka have been sending kai all around the district.
One of the coordinators, Donna McLeod, describes the group as a well-connected team with a huge network to call upon for help.
She says the wharenui is “about manaaki (support) and awhi (love), so it’s appropriate that it’s brought here”.
For any updates, follow Meals for Motueka and Motueka High School on Facebook. For drop-offs or collections, call into the school office first. Te Maatu will also be open this weekend.
Another huge community flood effort was the combined Motueka churches donation drive at the recreation centre on Saturday. The community was asked to donate clothing and household items in the morning, so that flood victims could come and take whatever they needed in the afternoon.
The tables were soon piled as high as the volunteers surrounding them, with thousands of items – shoes, clothing, linen, toys, housewares and small appliances – arranged on trestle tables and in neatly stacked piles around the centre.
Organiser Dieter Brandsch says they had far more donations than expected, and a smaller turnout of flood victims, so the enormous stash of remaining goods will be displayed at an empty cool store at Thomas Brothers orchard for people to utilise in the coming weeks.
Access to these items can be organised through the town’s new flood relief hub, set up by the Tasman Community Group and based out of the Motueka Highland Pipe Band room to the west of the recreation centre car park.
The team, headed by Aly Cook, Dave Tailby and Phil Rickard, are coordinating a database of both people who need help and people who can offer it. The hub has been established with help from Rotary and Lions, and can be contacted in person or via 028 474 9209 or at TCGFloodreliefhub@gmail.com
This will also be the muster point for the Student Volunteer Army. Potential volunteers are encouraged to arrive at 8.30am to be assigned a property at which to help for the day.
The final word can go to Ngātimoti’s Sarah, who says that she is trying to think of the whole situation as a lesson in resilience.
“Remember that we live in a beautiful place, and this is part of living in paradise.”
