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Story: Floods

Reporting the disaster

Image
A man standing in front of a collection of images of flooding.

Minister of Internal Affairs Allan Highet points to a display board of maps and photographs which he brought back from his visit to Southland in 1984. He used the display to show cabinet colleagues where the worst affected areas were. Cabinet subsequently approved a $1 million appeal fund.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: EP/1984/0515/7A

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Eileen McSaveney, Floods – Southland floods and Cyclone Bola, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/4887/reporting-the-disaster (accessed 9 June 2026).

Story by Eileen McSaveney, published 2 March 2009, updated 1 February 2024.