Tolaga Bay's forestry industry is on tenterhooks as a new report shows a massive flooding event could happen every year.
The flood scattered forestry debris across the region on New Zealand's east coast, and there is an 18 percent chance of the event repeating every year.
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Forestry Owners Association chief executive Don Carson says the widespread damage caused by uprooted trees shouldn't detract from the good they do.
"Yes, we have problems with the harvest but we have almost two million hectares of exotic forest that are locking up carbon like nobody's business," he said.
Mr Carson says it'll take some time to safeguard the industry from another flood as there's little that can be done to protect harvests planted decades ago.
"It's not something like a big ship that you can turn around immediately. It takes some time to get the practice in that will reduce those risks."
Newshub.
