Nasty Clouds
Written and illustrated by William Chapple
Havelock North, a small and peaceful countryside town in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand. Farms and mountains surround the town of Havelock North. Great greenness can be seen from each home, with pure tasty water being delivered to each. Many people say water doesn’t taste, but Havelock North’s tastes really good.
Havelock North citizens are very laid back. Young kids go to school happily while adults leave for work with them. The old folks work on their gardens in the mornings and have naps in the evenings. Havelock North is a very relaxed town.
However, one winter's evening, while the kids were playing with their neighbours in the street, the sun slowly started to get eaten away by the dark side of the day.
Before people knew it, great amounts of water started to dive down from the dark dark clouds. The kids, the adults, the old folks all ran back into their homes with fear.
The rain was like a river from the sky. It was making enormous BANGING noises as it crashed into the roofs of the houses. The whole of Havelock North anxiously waited as they stared out at the darkening sky.
Meanwhile the rain got harder and harder with strong gusts coming in as well. The weather of Havelock North was getting worse. This was the strongest rainfall in 10 years!
 The next morning, citizens woke up to a beautiful sunny day. Even though, water from the previous night was overflowing onto the streets and the footpaths, they were just glad that the enoromous rainfall had ended.Â
A few days passed by and the overflowing rain disappeared. It felt like life was back to normal. But one teacher felt like something was different in his class. Everyday since the heavy rain, more and more people started to become absent. In fact, after a week had passed, there were almost no kids at school.
Soon after, the whole school closed down due to student and staff illness. Everybody knew that something was wrong but they couldn’t think of anything they had eaten or done that could have affected them and made them feel sick.
By the time a week had passed, over 5,000 people in the town were feeling ill. The city council started to investigate. Things were very serious.
 Soon after, with the hard work and investigation from the council, they found out what had happened. Bacteria like campylobacter and e.coli got into Havelock North's supply water. These bacteria are found in animal poo and can make people feel very sick if they contaminate our food or water.
The bacteria made thousands ill, with people throwing up, having diarrhoea and fevers. So many were sick in the small town of Havelock North.
The council got into action straight away. They told the whole town to boil all the water before drinking. They went to investigate about how the bacteria got into the water. It turned out to be from sheep poop. Considering that there are more sheep than people in New Zealand, it is understandable.
Because so much water fell from the clouds, the ground couldn’t absorb it all. This spare water floated down the hills, which is known as runoff.Â
The runoff picked up sheep, cow and deer poop and swooshed it all into a well. Then the water in the well with the bacteria got sent out to the homes in Havelock North. This was how the sickness spread.
The action the council took was to chlorinate the water to kill all the bacteria. Even though the citizens didn’t fully support the idea, safety was the priority. The water issue was dealt with.
 Havelock North was back to normal. Kids cheering aloud and the old folks relaxing again. The sun is back out and Havelock North is a peaceful countryside town once again.Â
Glossary Campylobacter - A kind of bacteria found in contaminated food or water that can make people feel sick. Council - A group of people that looks after a town or city. Chlorinate - The act of adding chemicals known as chlorine to kill bacteria. Contaminated - Something that is infected withbacteria (such as food, water, etc.) E. Coli - A kind of bacteria found in contaminated food or water that can make people feel sick. Especially causing stomach trouble. Folks - Another way to say people. Gusts - Wind Blowing. Runoff - When there is too much water for the land to soak up and the leftover water flows down.