Power back but Coasters face massive cleanup
Engineers are battling to restore power to parts of the beleaguered West Coast as storm-ravaged communities turn to the massive cleanup operation ahead.
Electricity has been reconnected at the West Coast towns of Fox Glacier and Bruce Bay after they were ravaged by excyclone Fehi.
After three days of no electricity, crews from Electronet restored power to the area on Sunday evening.
Lights were due back on in Mahitahi and Paringa yesterday, the Westland District Council said. Engineers hoped to restore power at 10 out of 12 installations before nightfall.
Water polluted
But residents and visitors in Fox township face days of having to boil water after supplies were found to be polluted with E coli.
People at Arahura Pa near Hokitika also have to treat their water after sources were contaminated with seawater.
A Westland District Council spokesman said: ‘‘Three clear days of testing will be needed before residents and visitors at Fox Glacier and Arahura Pa can stop boiling their water.
‘‘In the meantime, tap water from both communities’ water supplies must be boiled for at least 2 minutes.’’
All roads in the Westland district except the access route to the glacier at Fox are now open, but a number are badly damaged.
State Highway 67 from Westport to Ngakawau has been flooded after heavy rain in the area.
The road will be monitored during high tide and motorists should take extra care, a spokeswoman from the Wellington Transport Operations Centre said.
Repair crews are continuing to work in several areas throughout the region and drivers are urged to take extra care and keep to speed limits.
A landslip on SH6 from Whataroa to Haast has caused delays and SH6 Westport to Greymouth is open to one lane.
Thousands of people will now begin counting the cost of the damage as West Coast residents come to terms with having their homes destroyed and communities shattered.
Thirty-one homes were left uninhabitable in the Buller District and another 26 are yellowstickered.
The Buller District Council lifted its state of emergency at 5pm on Sunday and will now help families who cannot return to their homes.
Buller chief executive Andy Gowland-Douglas said a number of the damaged homes were uninsured and the council was now working with welfare agencies to help those who were stuck without permanent shelter.
‘‘All the people affected have had loads of volunteers helping them. A lot of them are currently in motels and next weekend we have the Buller marathon on so all the accommodation will be booked out from here to Punakaiki.’’
Gowland-Douglas did not know exactly how many were affected but knew there were 18 people in emergency accommodation on Friday night, while others stayed with family and friends.
The Coast was precariously close to being severed in two with just one lane of State Highway 6 at Punakaiki remaining.
‘‘We’re really at risk of being cut off again to be honest. The road has been undermined quite significantly. If there is another big storm surge event we could lose the road completely,’’ GowlandDouglas said.
Volunteers had been working in northern Buller to tidy up rubbish after the storm.
Old rubbish tip
Meanwhile the Grey District Council is scrambling to limit the impact of an old rubbish dump leaching into the Grey River.
Councillors on Friday approved a $1 million wall to protect the coastline in the north of the town but it will take at least two weeks before it can be started. The sea is now encroaching on to the site.
Waters continue to erode the dump and more debris is being swept on to an already heavilypolluted Cobden beach, lined with tens of thousands of plastic bags after the storm tore through a nearby rubbish dump.
Grey District mayor Tony Kokshoorn said the council didn’t know how it was going to fund the wall but hoped central government would pitch in.
‘‘We have approved the staff to build a sea protection wall there and we want to do that as soon as possible. Staff are working on that right at the moment and they’ll give us a report in about a fortnight; it needs fixing right away.’’