Imagine if this storm had ripped through Auckland’s posh Remuera, Herne Bay, Howick… blowing over roses, hydrangeas, garden sheds, and cutting the power for days.
Flags would still be at half-mast on upmarket restaurants and government buildings; politicians and their entourages would be flying to the scenes in RNZAF helicopters to calm the nerves of stricken city folk.
Not so on the Coast. People there just got on with it, managing as they always have, helping each other out and this time sharing generators so that nobody’s cows missed milking. No time for tears or reflection on why mother-father nature brought this disaster upon them. No political shoulders to cry on, no government BMWs ferrying politicians to and from photo opportunities.
Coasters are resilient people, a rare breed some would say, often one sleep from adversity – economic or weather-related. They are hard workers in a hard, isolated environment. Helen Clark once called them “feral”.
Karamea lies at the end of the road, a road at risk of slips and other blockages. There and nearby we saw again the true spirit of the West Coast. The power company was quick to act, Westland Milk Products was equally fast and lots of volunteer community organisations rose to the challenge: the cows were somehow milked.
Coasters are proud individuals with reason to feel they have been hard done by over the years.
Since the first settlers came to the Coast to mine coal and gold, life has always been a struggle.
How impressive then, that the dairy industry on the West Coast pulled together to get this community through such a terrible experience.
