West Coast reels at storm’s destruction
Gale-force winds have exposed part of an old rubbish dump, closed more than 20 years ago, and blown ‘‘massive’’ amounts of plastic across a West Coast beach.
Grey District Mayor Tony Kokshoorn said Thursday’s ‘‘ferocious’’ storm tore down the coastline in a way rarely seen before.
The remnants of tropical cyclone Fehi left people across the South Island battling high winds, flooding, fires, sea surges, power outages, evacuations and baking heat on Thursday.
Kokshoorn said parts of the West Coast had been eroded where wind and rain ‘‘attacked it like a fire hose’’. Its effects were acutely felt at Cobden Tip Head and Shipwreck Point, where the strong winds had ripped open an old dump and thrown rubbish across the shoreline.
Tourists stranded
Efforts to rescue tourists trapped between slips at Fox Glacier, in South Westland, began at ‘‘first light’’ yesterday.
About 115 people, mostly tourists, who spent the night there were the main priority for Civil Defence yesterday, while 600 were trapped in Haast due to a massive slip south of the town.
Westland District Mayor Bruce Smith said the stranded tourists would be stuck there until the roads reopened. ‘‘As far as we can tell everyone’s safe and well and as the day progresses they will all be released.’’
Smith said ‘‘she’s been a big night’’. Power was still out in isolated areas and the Amethyst Hydro Power Station at Harihari had supplied most of the district.
Downed powerlines were strewn across the main road at Kaniere, near Hokitika.
Evacuees were expected to head home yesterday.
Smith praised the emergency response as the best he had seen and said it was ‘‘brilliant training’’ for natural disasters to come.
He had faith in West Coast communities to get affected areas up and running again quickly.
‘‘Along the beachfront all the way to Haast are areas where the damage is quite amazing but put a digger there for three days and it will look like what it used to. We choose to live on the coast, by the rivers, by the sea, on a fault line and when something goes wrong we get together and sort it out.’’
Weather improving
Civil Defence Controller John Canning said yesterday was about recovery. Emergency services and council workers would be doorknocking houses, sending evacuees home where possible, and getting the ‘‘necessities of modern life’’ – power and roads – functional again.
Thankfully, weather conditions were much improved yesterday, he said. ‘‘The wind has died down and the rain has died down.’’ Buller
A state of emergency was declared in Buller early on Thursday afternoon as high tides flooded houses and streets in coastal areas.
Up to 100 properties were evacuated and aged and palliative care patients in Westport were evacuated to another facility because of flood risk.
A Buller District Council spokesman said the state of emergency was still in place yesterday but the emergency response effort had ‘‘moved now to that of recovery’’. ‘‘We currently have teams out assessing damage and looking to reinstate anything they can.
‘‘Residents should not reinhabit flooded homes until they have been checked for structural damage and until it has been confirmed that there is no contamination from sewage, which is a risk to health, and no risk of electrocution from the power supply.
‘‘Residents’ welfare remains our primary concern.’’
Buller Civil Defence had been concerned about the high tide at 12.50am yesterday but afterwards said it had ‘‘come and gone and thankfully has not resulted in another major storm surge’’.
‘‘All those who had to leave their homes are safe and sound in motels or with friends and family.’’
Several highways remained closed yesterday morning though, including State Highway 6 between Haast and Makarora and between Westport and Rapahoe, and SH8 between Roxburgh and Millers Flat in Otago.
SH6 was open to one lane between Inangahua Junction and Westport (Buller Gorge).
Punakaiki
Waves lashing the West Coast community of Punakaiki on Thursday were so strong concrete was uplifted and hurled on to the road. Barrytown resident Sophie Allan said State Highway 6 looked ‘‘really awful’’ after the storm.
‘‘There are piles of concrete that would weigh a couple of tonnes that were thrown across the road. The sea just picked them up and threw them,’’ she said.
NZ Transport Agency spokesman Andrew Knackstedt said the damage to some coastal sections of State Highway 6 was ‘‘significant’’.
‘‘When the road re-opens there will be some single-lane sections.
‘‘Contractors have not been able to access some sections of road between Franz Josef and Haast, as potentially live power lines remain down in the area which must be cleared before workers can safely enter the area.’’
Dunedin
A state of emergency was issued for Dunedin on Thursday as floodwaters rose and residents sand bagged homes.
Mayor Dave Cull said the ‘‘catalyst’’ to the declaration was floodwater entering the city’s waste water system.
Heavy rain flooded low-lying areas such as South Dunedin and Mosgiel and caused localised issues for the hill suburbs.
The state of emergency was lifted yesterday as weather conditions eased.
Christchurch
Thursday was Christchurch’s hottest day in two years.
As the city’s temperature peaked at 34.5 degrees Celsius at lunchtime, wind gusts felled trees and snapped branches, cutting power to almost 3000 rural homes, mostly in Selwyn and Banks Peninsula. By mid-evening power had been restored to most of the affected homes.