States of emergency in place for Southland and the Clutha District are likely to stretch into next week as thousands of residents remain without power or water.
Nearly 15,000 properties in the lower South Island remain without power after severe weather downed trees, damaged homes and shut down more than 100 cell towers on Thursday, with many potentially facing no power until this coming Friday.
PowerNet chief executive Paul Blue said progress restoring power to thousands still cut off in Southland and Otago would slow as crews addressed more extensive damage.
While some larger areas such as Te Anau and Winton have had their power restored, he said there would be individual customers or small areas that would remain without due to additional damage or faults.
“We’re not able to manage repairs on an individual basis yet, so some customers are likely to remain without power for several days.
“For now our focus is on prioritising where we can get power back on and we’re asking people not to report individual properties without power until we advise otherwise.”
While power crews work to reconnect homes, water infrastructure remains under strain across the region with water conservation notices also in effect across Southland and Clutha.
It comes after extreme winds on Thursday toppled trees and powerlines, and knocked out power, water and communications. (Source: 1News)
Emergency Management Southland said Ohai was still without water, with a tanker stationed on the main street. In Tuatapere, power was slowly returning, but a water tanker remained opposite the Four Square for those still affected.
Emergency Management Otago said Clinton residents could access water from the tap at the front of the Community Centre, while a tanker is being set up at the Waihola fire station.
Milton and Lawrence were urged to continue conserving water, and boil water notices were in place for both Tapanui and Moa Flat. In Kaitangata, work continues to restore power to the wastewater treatment plant.
Most wastewater systems were stabilising, but residents were asked not to flush toilets where possible to help the systems catch up.
Telecommunications Forum chief executive Paul Brislen said crews had been restoring up to 26 cell towers a day but warned that high winds could halt progress.
“Rain and cold weather isn’t so bad — the real concern is if we get more gusts like we had,” he told RNZ.
“When it’s 120 or 130km/h, you really can’t send the crews out.”
Brislen also urged patience from residents trying to reach emergency services. In areas with disrupted mobile coverage, calls to 111 could take up to 50 seconds to connect.
“Some of the new handsets are taking quite a bit of time — anywhere from 20 to 50 seconds,” he said. “In an emergency, customers are hanging up, thinking the network is down, when they just need to wait.”
The New Zealand Defence Force flew NEMA staff, Civil Defence personnel and close to 40 portable generators into Southland yesterday on a C-130J Hercules.
Rural Communities Minister Mark Patterson said the priority was keeping farms operational during peak milking.
“The priority is getting cows milked, stock watered… sheds have blown away, trees are match-stacked. It’s a very serious event.”
Clutha District Mayor-elect Jock Martin said the scale of damage was immense, with potentially thousands of power poles broken.
“The biggest problem is the one we cannot see — communications. It’s creating anxiety for our communities.”
MetService said more severe weather was on the way for Labour Day, with a “significant storm” forecast to sweep across much of the country tomorrow.
Watches were already in place for severe northwest gales and heavy rain across several regions.
“Very active fronts will bring another significant burst of severe weather to the country on Monday,” MetService said, urging people to stay up to date, as further warnings were likely to be issued.
