Flood 'moves mountains' of sediment

Landcare Research scientists have calculated the huge amounts of sediment shifted by the Manawatu River during the February floods

* and have advice on how to help reduce erosion caused by storms. Horizons Regional Council records for the February 16 flood show that the Manawatu River peaked at just over 8.9 metres

* a level second only to the flood of 1902 (www.horizons.govt.nz).

The floodwaters moved huge amounts of sediment, leaving widespread and serious damage. Roads were blocked, bridges washed out, and silt and sand dumped onto farmland, all resulting in significant losses to the local economy.

Landcare Research scientists Dr Roger Parfitt and Dr Troy Baisden stationed themselves on Palmerston North's Fitzherbert Bridge during the flood, lowering sampling devices into the river at regular intervals, as trees, hay bales and even cows floated by. They analysed the sediment

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>