When cows fly

Being a farming nation, NZ is breeding a lot of livestock. NZ didn't really manage to produce flying pigs yet, but flying cows have finally seen the light of day today.

After the biggest cloudburst in living memory (almost half a meter of rain in 24 hours) a part of the North Island has been heavily flooded yesterday. Living on the South Island we are at about a 1500 km (1000 miles) distance so we didn't notice anything ourselves, but the people over there are really in dire straits, with houses that have been swept away completely by the water.

Then there are the cows of Hikurangi. They are all standing on flooded paddocks, and are becoming extremely exhausted. If they are not rescued they will drown. People have tried to drive them to higher ground using water skis and kayaks, but those small water vehicles are no match for unwilling cows in the water. So now a helicopter transports them to higher ground, which, sad as the event by itself may be, provides for some pretty hilarious images too.

(images and footage by one news)