13 July, 2007

Clean Up Continues, Pleasing Progress Made

Clean-up work in flood-affected Northland communities will need to continue for some time but officials say the region has already made pleasing progress and its people have demonstrated remarkable resilience.

About 1500 Northlanders were still without electricity this afternoon, the bulk of them in the Whangarei District, with a smaller number in Kaipara.

That represents a big improvement and is roughly one-quarter of the number without power yesterday. Power companies are striving to reconnect the balance as soon as possible.

Most roads in the region are now open, public water supplies have been restored, sewage treatment systems are functioning and provisions have been delivered to the several Far North communities which had been isolated until today.

River levels throughout the region are continuing to drop and although some rain is forecast for Northland over the weekend, it is not expected to cause problems.

The Northland Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) Group – which has been operating from its Whangarei-based Emergency Operating Centre since early Tuesday - says although the damage bill from the storm is likely to run to millions of dollars, the most important thing is that no lives had been lost.

Centre manager Graeme MacDonald says Northlanders had shown impressive resilience both during the storm and in its aftermath.

He says local government and other officials dealing with the storm are now shifting their focus from ‘response’ to ‘recovery’ mode and the Far North District Council is likely to later today lift the state of local emergency it declared on Tuesday.

With District Councils and other agencies well-placed to deal with the storm’s aftermath, the Whangarei-based CDEM Group Emergency Operating Centre would close later today, with a skeleton crew monitoring developments over the weekend.

Similarly, the Northland Regional Council website www.nrc.govt.nz - which had carried extensive storm-related coverage this week – would also resume normal operations from this afternoon. People seeking information about power supply or other utilities issues should contact their provider directly.

Meanwhile, those wishing to donate money to those affected by this week’s storm can do so through a special Mayoral Relief Fund. Donations can be made either through Westpac account 03 0334 0165198 00 or Bank of New Zealand account 02 1257 0011199 000.

ENDS

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