Southern Westland is under a local state of emergency as Franz Josef experiences its wettest 24 hours in 45 years.
Mayor Helen Lash made the declaration on Saturday morning after about 350 millimeters of rain fell across the coast in the 24 hours to 7am.
Franz Josef experienced its wettest 24 hours in 45 years.
West Coast Civil Defence has partially activated its emergency operations centre. (Source: 1News)
After a day of flooding, slips and heavy rain in some parts of the West Coast, the weather has eased, but officials are still urging people to stay off the roads to keep safe.
Southern Westland remains under a local state of emergency after the region was pounded by heavy rain, with Franz Josef recording its wettest 24 hours in 45 years.
State Highway 6 from Fox Glacier to Haast was closed for the weekend due to flooding and slips, but the section between Haast and Makarora had reopened.
Civil Defence controller Kevin Hague said on Saturday night that rivers were expected to continue to rise, even as the rainfall subsided, and people in affected areas should still avoid driving.
Officials said they were keeping a close eye on the Hokitika River, which was expected to peak on Saturday evening, coinciding with the high tide.
There had been some flooding around the Kaniere Kokatahi area.
Westland mayor Helen Lash declared a state of emergency on Saturday morning, after 375 millimetres of rain fell across the coast in the 24 hours to 7am.
Water levels on the Whio, Haast and Hokitika Rivers triggered level one alerts earlier on Saturday.
By 8.30pm Saturday, MetService had lifted all South Island weather watches and warnings.
West Coast Emergency Management spokesperson Claire Brown said earlier on Saturday: “We’re still carefully [watching] what’s happening down South Westland. We do know that there have been some properties that have had water inundation, particularly over last night, early this morning.
“It does appear that the weather conditions are beginning to ease off, which is great news. However, we still have quite a lot of debris on the roads.”
The heavy rain was expected to pass through by Saturday evening, but had left a trail of damage on the roads.
Earlier, Brown said the declaration had been made “as extensive flooding causes significant problems across the district, including evacuations, road closures and landslips in the South Westland area.
“This declaration provides for controllers to direct and coordinate personnel, material and other resources made available and provides access to extraordinary powers to deliver an effective and timely response to an emergency.
“Members of the public are reminded to prepare getaway bags in preparation for potential evacuations. If anyone is feeling unsafe, please self-evacuate to friends or family on higher ground or call 111.”
The community of Hannah’s Clearing around 20km south of Haast was isolated and campervans had been evacuated from a camping ground in the early hours of the morning.
Allan Dick had been travelling in his campervan and had planned to travel south to central Otago.
He said his plans had been thwarted.
“It’s rained solidly with absolutely no let-up at all for the past 30 hours and now we’re stuck,” he said.
“We’re here for the duration but we don’t know how long the duration is.
“It’s heavy and it doesn’t stop at all.”
Confined to his campervan, Dick said he had spent the morning reading and watching the All Blacks test on his laptop.
“We’re lucky to have coverage on the laptop,” he said.
Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell was travelling from Hokitika to Franz Josef and said the roads were hazardous.
“There have been some slips. There is a community through the south … because of slips that has been isolated and cut off.”
Mitchell said the evacuated campers had been taken to a safer area.
The Waiho River near Franz Joseph was running high when the first alarm activated, but receded slightly during Saturday afternoon.
West Coast Civil Defence partially activated its emergency operations centre during the day, but stood it down just after 8pm on Saturday. However, it reminded anyone who needed assistance to call 111 if they were in immediate danger overnight, and the region’s emergency management phone would be monitored overnight: 03 769 9323.
Road closures after slips
Claire Brown asked people to avoid travel, particularly in the south of Westland, with some road closures in place.
These include State Highway 6 from Fox Glacier to Haast, due to a slip, and Ross to Fox Glacier because of flooding and slips.
In a statement, the New Zealand Transport Agency said parts of the state highway would remain closed over the weekend.
Systems manager Mark Pinner said: “Our crews will continue to clean up the fallen trees and slips around Bruce Bay, the glacier towns and south of Ross but the Knights Point cracks are of more concern.
“We will have a surveyor on site this afternoon and more geotechnical inspections by chopper Sunday morning to assess the area at Knights Point. SH6 through Knights Point area will remain closed for the weekend with the next update for the route between Fox Glacier and Haast at 10am Monday.”
NZTA said no detour was available for SH6 at Knights Point.
“People wanting to get to Greymouth or Hokitika will need to come via Arthur’s Pass or the Lewis Pass from the east coast for the time being, or delay their journeys.”
Mitchell said “hopefully” roads would be restored and reopened as soon as possible.
“Obviously the big focus right now is public safety and making sure there is a strong response.
“The West Coasters are pretty good and used to dealing with water and rain but for us as a country, this is a reality. We are going to continue to be hit by these weather events and obviously it’s extremely important in terms of how we respond and react to that.”
“I came over yesterday for a briefing and already the wheels were in motion. The local mayor and local leadership are very good, they’re across it, they respond early which is very important, not just in terms of the response but the recovery.”
Mitchell earlier said Westland residents should stay off the roads. He said the main area of concern was the Waiho River which experts were keeping a close eye on.
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