Tourist town cut off
The tourist town of Fox Glacier was last night cut off after 48 hours of rain left it isolated by slips and fallen trees that blocked the main state highway.
But fears of widespread flooding from swollen rivers had subsided, with neither the Waiho River in Franz Josef nor the Hokitika River on the South Island’s West Coast expected to breach their banks.
It came as bad weather swept across the country yesterday, with warnings of severe thunderstorms and heavy rain in the North Island, and high winds forcing the closure of restaurants at the top of Auckland’s Sky Tower.
Air New Zealand confirmed that 46 flights had been cancelled across the domestic network as of yesterday evening.
The majority of these were cancelled either directly because of the weather, or as a consequence of it, with crew or an aircraft unable to get to the correct location.
Residents in Spring Creek, near Blenheim, were also told to evacuate their homes by 9am today as a precaution over concerns that heavy rain would cause the nearby Wairau River to rise significantly by 5pm.
The recent heavy rain and road closures have taken their toll on the West Coast, with one hotel chain predicting its losses to be about $100,000.
Coasters have been stoic, though, and AgFest – the region’s biggest annual event, which brings together hundreds of agricultural sector exhibitors and thousands of people – will still go ahead in Greymouth today and tomorrrow.
Co-owner Andy Thompson said the event was vital to the region’s economy.
“We reckon Coasters are pretty used to donning a raincoat and taking advantage of this fantastic event, and it’s not going to put them off.”
Some areas of the West Coast received more than Christchurch’s annual rainfall in 48 hours.
Fox Glacier will remain isolated today, with slips and trees felled by the rain forcing the closure of State Highway 6 on either side of the town.
The road between Fox Glacier and Franz Josef is expected to remain closed until at least Monday following extensive damage at Smithy’s Creek.
Workers were unable to assess the damage until the intense rainfall eased, while the route south to Haast will be shut until at least 10am today because of heavy wind, rain and slips.
State Highway 6 between Franz Josef and Ross, just south of Hokitika, was also closed until further notice due to surface flooding.