Source: Radio New Zealand
Ōakura in the Whangārei District. Supplied
The Mayor of Whangārei says the council will meet to discuss lifting the State of Emergency in the district.
Nearly twice the typical rainfall for the month of January fell on north eastern parts Northland over two hours last weekend.
Flooding and slips cut off communities and forced locals and stranded travellers to seek shelter in local marae and community centres.
Ken Couper said the council would hear advice from Fire and Emergency, police, Civil Defence and health care representatives.
“Part of [the] north east of our district has been really badly affected and for them it’s very, very real and we have to – and we will – look after them.
“For the rest of the district it’s been business as usual so maybe there’s an opportunity to shrink it down to the effected areas. We’ll have a look,” Couper said.
He said – on top of roading crews in the area – a team of about 25 people had come north from Auckland to assess buildings and the needs of the affected communities.
“We are making progress. Up till the end of Saturday there had been 34 assessments completed on houses. Five of them had been red stickered unfortunately – which means no access at all – 10 yellow with restricted access and 19 white ones – safe to enter but it would still pay the property owner to get them assessed,” Couper said.
Mayor of Whangārei Ken Couper. Supplied / Whangārei District Council
Repairs to the Ngaiotonga Bridge – east of Kawakawa – had reconnected the towns of Ōakura, Punaruku to the rest of Northland, but a massive slip at Helena Bay hill was blocking access to Ōakura from the south and could take weeks to clear.
Couper said he was pleased that there was access – albeit restricted – about the district, but he said he was eager to see an outreach medical centre in Ōakura up and running to save people having to travel further in the difficult driving conditions.
Couper applauded the work of local marae in assisting locals and stranded travellers during and in the aftermath of the storm.
He said that this week the council would work towards restocking petrol and food for marae in the area – some of which were still hosting evacuated people.
“They’ve been outstanding. They look after the people, they’re open to everybody and they are well organised.
“After [cyclone] Gabrielle they went through an exercise of learning from that and they made sure they had provisions and the necessary things to cope and it stood them in good stead this time. They deserve a lot of credit,” Couper said.
Couper said the council was working closely with the Ngāti Wai iwi to make sure the marae were stocked with the supplies they needed.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
