Power cut adds to coast woe
Locals near Thames surprised by speed of sea’s advance
Roly Carey, 78, relies on a machine to help him breathe at night because of his motor neurone disease. When power was cut eight hours after the king tide flooded the Thames Coast Rd, the Te Puru resident had to make other plans.
His wife, Jeanette Carey, rang Powerco and was told the power cut directive came from Civil Defence.
It meant a scramble to reorganise themselves, she said, but luckily they could stay with their son nearby.
The Careys’ property on Seaview Ave, which is about 200m from the beach, escaped damage because the water only got as far as their letterbox.
They could only watch as the waves got bigger and crept closer.
Sarjants Rd resident Pippa Harry wasn’t so lucky. Her house is the only one deemed uninhabitable by Thames District Council inspectors after a torrent of sea water and sewage spewed through her house.
“The waves were massive. Even at 8.30am the water was at road level and high tide was at 10.30am.
“The water just came over the sea wall and went all the way up [Aputa] street,” Harry said.
By 10.10am her street was covered in water, and five minutes later it was up to her knees. At 10.30am it began entering her house. She is now staying with friends. Harry said although she wasn’t scared by the event, she was surprised at how quickly it happened.
“The adrenaline was pumping but everyone was amazing.”
The Thames Coast Rd is due to reopen today, a mammoth feat by NZ Transport Agency crews who have been working around the clock.
NZTA East Waikato contract manager Russell Troup said staff had been working from “dawn till dusk” to do the repairs, with fatigue management a key priority as they rotated staff to keep them fresh for the work ahead.
About 60 Te Puru residents turned out to the community hall for a visit by Civil Defence Minister Kris Faafoi yesterday morning. Many raised concerns about the lack of communication and the abrupt power cut.
Most agreed the recovery phase of the disaster had been good, but during the actual crisis they had to deal with conflicting reports as well as helping stranded tourists, some said.
“The warnings were inaccurate or non-existent,” one resident said at the meeting. “Powerco need a rocket for turning off the power unnecessarily eight hours after the event.”
Another said the council needed to look at ways of future-proofing the communities along the coast road.
Thames-Coromandel mayor Sandra Goudie said she would get her communications team to look into residents’ concerns and the feedback would form part of their review.
Faafoi said he was pleased with how the service had responded, but added “I hear some of the frustrations”.
“Given what I saw on the internet about the state of the road [and now] today and the fact that it is ready to go . . . hats off to those guys.”
Troup said his NZTA crew had identified 29 repair sites in the 42km stretch affected along Thames Coast Rd between Manaia and Tararu, with a 2.4km section encompassing Te Puru the worst affected.