More Gita coverage,
More than a dozen homes were evacuated, highways were closed and the entire region declared states of emergency as ex-Cyclone Gita slammed into the West Coast and Nelson Tasman overnight.
Police and the Defence Force had to ‘‘sweep’’ a closed coastal highway last night after a campervan with three people inside crashed and rolled.
The trio were taken to Grey Hospital with minor injuries after their vehicle overturned on State Highway 6, north of Greymouth.
Grey District Mayor Tony Kokshoorn said he thought the roads were ‘‘under control’’, but the news triggered a full check on all vehicles parked up between the cordons on the Coast Rd to ensure no-one was travelling.
The weather ‘‘hasn’t packed the punch we anticipated’’, he said last night, but there was still ‘‘a way to go’’ before it eased today.
A state of emergency was declared in Buller at 3.53pm, the Grey district at 5.40pm and Westland at 7.30pm.
Buller Mayor Garry Howard said the decision gave residents time to prepare before the worst of the storm hit late last night and early this morning.
It was ‘‘not a good situation’’ in Granity as high seas lashed seafront properties and forced the evacuations of 12 homes.
Several homes in the small village north of Westport were still red-stickered after the remnants of cyclone Fehi struck just three weeks earlier, cutting power to thousands of homes, closing dozens of roads and stranding hundreds of tourists.
All schools on the West Coast were kept closed as yesterday’s storm bore down, while Sounds Air grounded all flights in and out of Westport and Air New Zealand cancelled all flights in and out of Hokitika.
Westland Civil Defence controller Simon Bastion urged people to stay indoors as the storm caused trees to fall on roads and damaged buildings. SH6 was closed between Hokitika and Makarora, near Wanaka, and SH73 was closed between Jacksons and Kumara Junction.
A reception centre was set up in the Franz Josef medical centre to assist stranded tourists.
In the Tasman district, people were advised to stay indoors and avoid driving as the storm turned Takaka Hill (SH60) into a river, trapping a small number of vehicles between slips. A state of emergency was declared in the region at 7.20pm.
Several people reportedly had to take refuge on their roof as the river running past Nelson’s Shaggery Rd burst its banks, and the road from Collingwood to Puponga, near Farewell Spit, was affected by a severe washout. Power was cut to homes between Takaka and Upper Takaka in Golden Bay with a slip at Marriages Rd in Ruby Bay.
Meteorologist Ciaran Doolin said exposed areas like Farewell Spit and Separation Point were getting wind gusts of up to 80kmh, which would ‘‘ramp up’’.
Nelson was ‘‘basically right in the middle of the track [of the storm]’’, he said.
Nelson Tasman Civil Defence public information manager Paul Shattock said the wind picked up about 3.30pm yesterday.
Farewell Gardens holiday accommodation manager Nicola Hartless said they were ‘‘completely stuck and hunkered down’’ indoors.