Civil Defence Update - Westland

Media Update #6

Time: 14.30 Saturday 3 February 2018

Traffic is moving freely in the Westland District this afternoon, with the NZ Transport Agency reopening State Highway 6 at 11am and all but three local roads open again. There are still stretches of SH6 that are unsealed or single lane between Hokitika and Makarora, and drivers are being urged to expect delays and use caution.

Westland District Council’s Emergency Operations Centre remains activated in response to Thursday’s storm. Controller Simon Bastion says the district is moving from response to recovery, as the District Council’s staff and contractors are progressively restoring essential services to communities.

“Getting water, sewerage, power and telecommunications back are major milestones,” he says. Power was restored to the full Hokitika grid earlier this afternoon. The next priority is to get the power back on in Okarito and Fox Glacier.” Latest indications are that power to Fox Glacier township may be restored by tomorrow afternoon.

Water in both Fox Glacier and Arahura Pa must be boiled for drinking, food preparation and personal hygiene for at least the next three days. The Fox Glacier supply was found to have elevated e-Coli levels after it was restored, while the Arahura Pa supply had saltwater contamination.

While the water and power supplies are being restored, the supply systems are still fragile and people are asked to limit consumption.

Local roads that remain closed are Beach Road and Sunset Point in Hokitika. Repairs are expected to be completed on those roads by toight. The access road to the glacier at Fox has suffered major damage and there is no estimate yet of when it may reopen.

Mr Bastion says that planning is underway to assess the social impacts of the storm on Westland’s communities, including residents and businesses. “We will be working with community groups and networks over the next two or three days to ensure we have identified the collective needs.”

A community meeting has already been held in Haast today.

In the meantime, residents needing immediate assistance can call 03 7569010 or 0800 474 834.” Overnight and at the weekend the answerphone message has options for after-hours support.

MetService is forecasting another period of rain and possible thunderstorms tomorrow and Mr Bastion says that the civil defence team will be monitoring the situation closely.

ENDS

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