Texas , Nelson, Weather

Trying to absorb the news about flooding in Nelson Marlborough has been hard enough. So many similarities to Gabrielle and the stories reflect those of many friends locally.

What a gutsy lot are kiwis. Listening to farmers interviewed after being slammed by the event , here they are knuckling down and confronting the challenge after a few days reflection and time to let reality sink in.

Great to hear one farmer say they needed heaps of help but there was no point waiting for the Government.

He's right. You have to get on and start the battle. Shift the silt. Fix the fences .Look after the stock.

Life's a bitch at times.

It concerns me that again the sticker process kicks in smart quick.

Red , yellow, white. It is wrong. More analysis on this later.  

And Texas.

We thought we had it bad. Texas is another story. Walls of water 30ft and 40 ft high at the height of the flooding. Can you comprehend that?

My heart goes out to all those who have lost loved ones in a flash. Lives turned upside down .Families devastated .

Mother nature is all powerful.

It is pointless trying to compare the Texas situation with New Zealand. The geographic situations are different along with so many other factors.

The common factor is weather.

It is an opportunity for the non thinkers to point the finger at that nasty 'global warming'

Agendas galore.

What is needed is  more thought about what is really happening .Why is the weather behaving the way it is?

Recently I was thinking of  a period we went through in the nineties where we experienced a number of serious hail storms .

Humans lose their minds at times.

It is always tragic having to deal with major losses .I was involved in committees at the time. One of my friends was totally wiped out .Never recovered. 

The response to these weather events was to invest in hail cannons, hail netting and other innovative measures to prevent damage in the future. Every time a black cloud appeared there were cannons waking us up with their explosions and whines.   

What has happened?

We have experienced some hail in the years since but nothing like the smashing events back then .I don't know if hail cannons exist any longer. There is certainly plenty of hail netting about on the off chance.

The weather is constantly changing. Every year is different .There are patterns but nothing stays the same.

We live with nature.

Some understand , some don't. 

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 Two Worlds

Frankly at times I think we are living in two worlds in the sense that the political system has become so far removed from reality that it revolves around a different universe.

The political world have received a new report from a "panel of experts" including bankers, insurance sector , local government and iwi.

These experts prepared this report because the Government is preparing Climate Adaptation legislation. 

Sound impressive?

No. If anyone believes legislation will overcome nature then they are dreaming.

Of course it all revolves around money. That's why all the 'experts' from sectors have been involved.

The banks are worried about losing out. The Insurance sector are worried about their bottom lines , Local Government  are worried about making wrong decisions and being sued and iwi always have to poke their nose in.

To hell with people. I mean they just get in the way. They do things like build houses and live in areas where they enjoy life while being debt slaves.

Or they have been successful and are enjoying nature by the sea or a river .

Sometimes those pesky people have lived in areas for a long time. Maybe even generations. Maybe they are familiar with the lay of the land. The ways of  mother nature .The historical imprint on their ancestry.

Of course they are concerned with money as well .

What is the agenda?

The problem is this proposed legislation is being driven by the climate change hysteria that has been unleashed on the world and captures politicians soon after they sit in their comfortable parliamentary seats. The irrational world subsumes them and they become captured and lead down the path to a new land where experts roam free and salaries rise exponentially with mounting reports.

So we have these two worlds.

One of reality and reason.

One of fantasy and fanaticism.

This new report gets off on the wrong foot for a start with the specious reasoning that the frequency and severity of weather events is  increasing.

There is ample evidence already available to dispute this reasoning and to initiate a report with this premise as its focus is a major flaw from the outset.

It is true that we have seen some major weather events happen but these need to be put in to perspective.

In the next ten years we may see fewer. We need to sit back and take a long look at what is really happening.

The big issue with all the climate alarm ringing in our ears is that the pursuit of legislation and the imposition of regulations is impacting monetarily on you and me .The people. We are paying bigly  for what may be  totally unnecessary expense for no return and huge upheaval  to our lives.     

 

 Nelson and Marlborough 

Thoughts are with fellow kiwis in the Nelson Marlborough area after another weather event.

The area has been subject to flooding every four years in recent times.

This will get the climate alarmists excited because the go to explanation is climate change and they can say , look it's happening more often and go to their climate models to update and factor in four years as a given.

What will likely happen is the return period may expand to twenty years. Could be anything because that's what the weather does. Changes constantly. Weather patterns are down to nature.

Anyhow enough of that.

I really feel for those affected by the wet weather  and especially those growers who have lost machinery, buildings , fences soil etc.

It's a long grind getting back to some sort of normality.

Luckily the rain hit in the winter when crops are off the trees and everything is dormant. The soil will be saturated however as it has been wet for a while.  

More rain is forecast for Thursday and Friday so lets hope it is not going to exacerbate the situation  and cause more damage.

I have noted the normal noises from the Minister and the Mayors but I bet all the help will come from friends, family and local churches. Genuine kiwis.

Thinking of all those affected.

Ciao for now.

Lotto and Funding

Here I was talking about money and next thing there is coverage of the funds Lotto distributed following a special lotto draw following Gabrielle.

Early on there was disquiet about what was going on with the lotto funds but it is not an easy task deciding who would receive funds and how much.

I have to say I was extremely grateful to receive a small amount of assistance from Lotto distributed through a local organisation. I made it go a long way .

The distribution was in the vicinity of $14 million and when spread out over the affected areas was a big help to many small organisations that were then able to identify how best to utilise.

It would be good to discover why some particular parties were reputed to be given sums in the vicinity of $10m for very small communities .These were Government grants mentioned in discussions with many who assisted during the cleanup and restoration.

There are indications this was true as evidence is plain to see when travelling around .

This raise the question about help and assistance once again. 

In Australia the recent floods have seen affected people and businesses given grants around $20,000 and in the USA following North Carolina flooding the people were given $50,000 to help overcome the disaster.

In New Zealand nothing .

There is a multitude of situations that become apparent following a disaster . Everyone is different .Some insured , some not. Some with no debt. Some with debt to the eyeballs. Just a reflection of a community at a moment in time.

What is the answer?

My thinking now is that a grant of some kind , not just $1000 is required to soften the impact and help people get back on their feet.

The idea that we have a Council that is sitting on a $500 million investment at this time. One might say waiting for a rainy day,  and they are so miserable they look at ways of extracting more money from ratepayers , then I say something is very wrong.

We need to look at the legislation around possibly making a distribution from squirrelled funds that belong to the ratepayers.   

           

Money, Power, Authority

The shift has been quiet , like a stealth bomber under the radar but over time the power has shifted from the people to the authorities.

The masses don't notice as they go about their lives like ants building homes and having families having fun and filling the coffers of the big box boys and girls who sit on the hill smiling.

It's not until the proverbial hits the fan that some take time to stop and think. Take time and  read the room and say hang on a minute what the hell is going on.

Money.

It all revolves around money. Everything unless you opt out and find a retreat to practice yoga and vegetarianism.  Off grid power and chickens and composting toilets and all those fun pursuits.

A major event like a flood exposes where we have arrived with authority . The jack boot arrives promptly and marks abodes in a flash.

Verboten. Don't touch. Every house has a sticker. It's a sticker of stigma. Are you red , yellow or white?

The authorities have spoken. Who the hell makes these decisions?

It soon comes down to money. People themselves take care of the tragedy . People help people.

Losing everything  suddenly lands everyone on the same footing. Loss is the same for everyone but there are degrees.

So the problems start and individuals are faced with a multitude of problems sorting out how to progress.

Losing nearly everything to me was devastating but in a strange way formed a strong desire to recover.

Having been insured for 40 years and missing the one year you could have celebrated a win was hard to take .I had to face the situation and plough ahead. The givealittle page has been a big help as have a multitude of people.

Heros.

That was along way to get to money.

The community has been destroyed . Dismantled rather quickly and it's hard to find anyone responsible. No one knows. 

If we want answers and solutions it becomes a case of money. The authorities have plenty .We have none. The authorities have resources .Scarce for those of us left to fight.

And it is a fight.

My wish now is to establish a fund to produce a report that can prove some facts around the event, the destruction and solutions required to reestablish our community.

The one sided affair with Local Government making and forcing decisions is unacceptable. The power needs to be with the people. Those who  lived and breathed in the area and understood the natural state of being in a once thriving village.

I have some ideas. A million would be nice.

When I hear that $11 million was spent on a roundabout and extras not far from the floodzone it makes my brain explode.

 

 

Authorities get in the road.

 Rescue chopper

It's one of those components that one can put aside after the turmoil.

Up until now I had only thought of my rescue fleetingly and without stopping to cogitate.

I was prompted to think about it today while listening to a rural programme where a rescue team member was talking about rescue missions he had done.

The chopper that  came to me that grey day was a westpac chopper and he couldn't land on my roof so I had to be winched up.

It's certainly something you do in the heat of the moment. If you had time to stop and think  you would most likely freak out.

I recall when the chopper was right above me it looked bloody huge and it was so noisy.

I  didn't want to look up but had to.

The guy came down on the winch cable and calmly said how are goin?

He told me he would hook me on and said 'just relax'

Just relax. I will never forget that. But in fact I did just that.

I was winched up and turned a little on the way trying not to look down and holding on tight to my grab bag with some  valuables and toothbrush.

Getting in to the chopper was  the worst part. More like a clamber .Trying not to look down again . He yelled( noisy) get to the back and pointed to a seat.

We faced the wind and we were up and off.

I did it.

I had been in iriquois before but this was a different scene. It was all fear, anxiety, the will to survive, acting calm , the height of alertness all wrapped up in about 15 minutes of action.

The devastation below as we flew to safety was just unbelieveable.

I still want to track down the guys who saved me and thank them.

  

Immediate and Severe

Kapiti Coast ratepayers are at the forefront of  what is more like an experiment than an honest attempt at dealing with nature and its fluctuations.

Their District Council is in the club. That is the modelling club.

It's the way these days. Have computer will model.

However as Waikanae watch points out the real world consequences for ratepayers are immediate and severe.

Councils can spend all the money they like on modelling. It must be fun looking at a multitude of scenarios  knowing that ratepayers are a bottomless pit and flood mapping is a just a tool and what comes out in reports could be right or wrong .Never mind we can just do some more.

Trouble is the consequences do not seem to trouble politicians be they in Wellington , Waikanae or Hawkes Bay.

The flow on effect , the cumulative effect of modelling decisions passed down the line through insurance, rates, taxes snowballs in to a burden for ratepayers who are the suckers who have to cough.

What is annoying is that if these models are adopted and proven wrong over time what come back does the ratepayer have ?

There is no such thing as accountability when it comes to Local Government .Try saying 'told you so' in ten years time.

This whole shambles really is a consequence of the pursuit of a fantasy. Scenarios all produced in the name of climate change and the industry around it.

What concerns me is that the same situation is playing out throughout New Zealand and ratepayers are being extorted for no reason.

The current crop of politicians have been tricked in to believing in this fantasy and lack the ability to stand back and analyse the folly unfolding .