After a day of sandbagging and preparing for the worst, residents of flood-threatened Westport and surrounding areas are being told to pack a bag ready for possible evacuations on Wednesday.
A regional state of emergency was declared on the West Coast on Tuesday after a day of heavy rain and rising rivers. A red warning for heavy rain has been issued by MetService for the area.
Buller deputy mayor Sharon Roche said on Tuesday evening the district was still expecting a significant amount of rain in the ranges, which would eventually wash down the Buller River.
“The rainfall keeps on changing all the time.”
READ MORE:
* Govt promises support for Buller schools as series of flood events leave children fearful every time it rains
* Between two rivers and the sea: Westport’s long history of catastrophic floods
* Not ‘out of the woods’ yet: At least 100 in Westport evacuation centres
The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric (Niwa) warned that a “long-lived” atmospheric river landing on Tuesday could lead to “well over a month’s worth of rain” this week, especially in parts of the South Island.
Council and emergency staff will be briefed again on Wednesday morning, where they would get updated modelling on rainfall and river flows, Roche said.
“Then we’ll start thinking about whether we need to start evacuating parts of Westport, or the region.”
MetService/Supplied
A red weather warning was issued for the West Coast.
Some of Buller’s coastal communities might also see swells of up to 5 metres and gale-force winds from early Wednesday, she said.
“We’re really just advising people to be as ready as possible… [to] prepare their homes and businesses.”
She advised locals to check in on vulnerable family members, and keep up with the latest updates from council.
“We’re planning for the absolute worst, but hoping for the absolute best. It’s really just seeing what happens over the next 24 hours.”
Peter Meecham/Stuff
Alexandria Blackburn-Wood fills up sandbags on the Esplanade on Wednesday.
Buller Civil Defence Controller Douglas Marshall said heavy machinery has been creating additional bunds, pumps have been set up and inflatable barriers installed to protect critical infrastructure.
He said residents in areas that have flooded before should keep a bag packed in case their homes are evacuated. He urged people living in low-lying areas to make their own evacuation plans.
Marshall said 22,000 sandbags were available for residents on Wednesday.
Buller District Council and Civil Defence opened its emergency operations centre on Monday, and extra support staff and vehicles from police, St John Ambulance, and Fire and Emergency were sent to the town.
Peter Meecham/Stuff
Granity fire station officer Glen Standing, right, and firefighter Rob Burdekin move a mobile pump back into one of the engines after testing it.
In Westport, Alexandria Blackburn-Wood was one of many locals filling up sandbags on Tuesday morning.
She lived on Brougham St close to the Orowaiti River now, but lived out at Snodgrass during the July 2021 floods, an area prone to severe flooding.
“[It is] a better spot, for sure. We haven’t had a flood in this property yet, but we just want to make sure. I just hope the council’s got it under control.”
Blackburn-Wood and her partner had found out they would be evacuated from their Snodgrass home while at work last July, and they arrived home to find water “pouring through the property”.
North of Westport, Granity fire chief Murray Watson and his crew of local volunteers were checking over their water pumps and making sure they had enough supplies.
“It’s just about looking after the community. It’s not always easy to get backup [out here] – we’re often on our own,” Watson said.
Peter Meecham/Stuff
Buller District Council contractors work to raise the height of a stopbank on Snodgrass Rd, which borders the Orowaiti River in Westport.
Watson was cautious about the forecast, given there had already been several major slips on the steep escarpment immediately above Granity and Ngakawau townships in heavy rain earlier this year.
“The rivers are full of gravel. It won’t take much … [But] we’re pretty well-prepared. It’s not something anyone really wants, but if it’s going to happen it’s going to happen.”
The flooding would be the third in the region in just over a year.
Flooding in July last year was the region’s worst for decades, leading to evacuations of almost half of Westport and a three-week-long state of emergency. More floods in February this year again caused widespread damage and left the town cut off.
Peter Meecham/Stuff
Flooding in Westport in mid-July 2021. (Video first published in July 2021)
Weather: West Coasters on high alert for flooding as heavy rain red warning sits over area & Latest News Update
Weather: West Coasters on high alert for flooding as heavy rain red warning sits over area & More Live News
All this news that I have made and shared for you people, you will like it very much and in it we keep bringing topics for you people like every time so that you keep getting news information like trending topics and you It is our goal to be able to get
all kinds of news without going through us so that we can reach you the latest and best news for free so that you can move ahead further by getting the information of that news together with you. Later on, we will continue
to give information about more today world news update types of latest news through posts on our website so that you always keep moving forward in that news and whatever kind of information will be there, it will definitely be conveyed to you people.
Weather: West Coasters on high alert for flooding as heavy rain red warning sits over area & More News Today
All this news that I have brought up to you or will be the most different and best news that you people are not going to get anywhere, along with the information Trending News, Breaking News, Health News, Science News, Sports News, Entertainment News, Technology News, Business News, World News of this made available to all of you so that you are always connected with the news, stay ahead in the matter and keep getting today news all types of news for free till today so that you can get the news by getting it. Always take two steps forward
Credit Goes To News Website – This Original Content Owner News Website . This Is Not My Content So If You Want To Read Original Content You Can Follow Below Links