Source: Radio New Zealand

A second priest who worked at St Bede’s College was accused of sexual abuse by three complainants over three decades, it can be revealed.

The priest, who “strenuously denied” the allegations, was rector at the school for more than a decade and worked alongside a priest who was recently revealed as sexually abusing four boys.

The school’s current rector says the matter is “distressing”, and that any form of abuse is “unacceptable”.

RNZ earlier revealed that former priest Rowan Donoghue had admitted six charges including indecent assault on a boy aged 12-16, indecent assault on a boy 16 and over and sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection. He is awaiting sentencing.

Do you know more? Email sam.sherwood@rnz.co.nz

The offending related to four boys who were boarding at St Bede’s College in Christchurch between 1996 and 2000.

It can now be revealed that another priest, Fr Brian Cummings, was also accused of sexual abuse by three different complainants.

Cummings, who died in 2022 age 68, was rector at the school between 1990 and 2001.

RNZ approached the Society of Mary for comment on allegations involving Cummings last week.

Initially the religious order said if there were allegations about any other Marists they encouraged complainants to take them to police.

Pressed further for comment, a Society of Mary spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday it had records of three complaints of sexual abuse against Cummings from three complainants.

“They were received in 1996, 2014 and in 2023; the third came after he had died. All related to his time at St Bede’s College. Cummings strenuously denied the accusations in 1996 and 2014.

“The first two complaints were investigated by police and the Society of Mary. Police took no action on either complaint. The third complaint was investigated by the Church.”

RNZ asked St Bede’s College rector Jon McDowall for comment on allegations of sexual abuse in relation to Cummings.

He replied the school was “aware of allegations against the late Father Cummings”.

“Those allegations are working through a process and we are not able to offer any further comment at this time.”

He said he found the matters “distressing”.

“Any form of abuse is unacceptable, regardless of when it occurred or whether it involved one individual or many.

“I was not in this role at the time these matters arose. My responsibility now is to ensure we respond with clarity, care and integrity.”

He said work was under way to understand what was known historically and how those matters were addressed.

“That work is being led by the current Boards and myself.

“Some historical allegations were previously subject to investigation. Where new information comes to light, we encourage it to be brought forward and addressed through the appropriate channels.

“What matters most is that anyone impacted feels supported and heard. We are committed to ensuring concerns are addressed appropriately, with care, integrity and accountability.”

He said the school today operated with “clear safeguarding expectations, strong oversight, and a culture where student well-being comes first.”

“Abuse has no place at St Bede’s – past, present or future.”

In a statement Detective Superintendent Darryl Sweeney said: “Police can confirm offending was reported to us centred on St Bedes in the 1980s/90s, investigated by Canterbury District in 2013.

“Following enquiries, the evidential test to proceed with prosecution was not met.

“This investigative material has been handed to the current investigation [into Donoghue].”

McDowall sent an email to former St Bede’s students on Tuesday. The email, seen by RNZ, referred to “continued media coverage” relating to “historical matters” related to the school.

“I am aware there may be further reporting in the coming days. I do not want you as Old Boys and Alumni to be caught off guard if additional historical matters are referenced. I will not speculate on what may or may not be published, but it is possible that some of the content may be difficult to read.”

McDowall said he recognised that for many former students the coverage may “bring back difficult memories or raise personal questions about your own time at the college”.

“For some, it may be confronting or unsettling. That response is entirely understandable.”

Anyone who wished to speak to him about any concerns, or share their own experiences could contact him directly.

Cummings’ departure from St Bede’s College was marked in the 2001 yearbook.

Cummings first started at the school in 1980 as an english and religious education teacher, he was also a dormitory master, eventually becoming the dean of boarders. In 1988 he left the school and was deputy rector at St Patrick’s College Silverstream, but returned about two years later to become rector.

“St Bede’s has been his primary focus and the goal of all his efforts. He has never tired in working for the good of the Staff and Students who make up this College,” the magazine said.

McDowall earlier told RNZ it was brought to his attention by police in recent weeks that the college had previously been notified of concerns relating to Donoghue.

“On learning this, I immediately took steps to establish clearly what was known by the school, when it was known, and how it was handled. I was not in this role at the time, and records from that period are limited. This work is ongoing; I am committed to gaining as much clarity as possible and doing so with care and integrity.

“I will say again, if there was inaction, and any failure to respond appropriately, then I am appalled. My thoughts remain with the victims and survivors who continue to live with the impact of this harm.”

Police appeal for people to come forward

In a statement to RNZ Detective Senior Sergeant Karen Simmons said last week police were appealing for anyone with information on offending by Donoghue to come forward.

A suppression order on Donoghue’s guilty plea was lifted last month.

“Following the lifting of all suppression, police have been made aware that former students of Wellington school St. Patrick’s College Silverstream, have alleged similar offending by Father Donoghue,” Simmons said.

“We know it can be incredibly difficult and at times distressing to talk about these matters, but we would like to reassure any victims of offending that we will take them seriously.

“Police has a number of officers and detectives dedicated to these cases, and we provide a safe space to report offending in confidence.”

St Patrick’s Silverstream rector Rob Ferreira earlier told RNZ the school had not been made aware of any allegations of abuse in care while Donoghue worked at the school between 1982 to 1992.

“We have not had any inquiries from the police either.

“We operate according to clearly set out guidelines and best practice and you should note that our primary concern is the wellbeing of our students. Given that – our protection of the privacy and any other rights of survivors of abuse and other individuals would be paramount.”

He said the school had informed the community that Donoghue’s name suppression had lifted.

Where to get help:

• Need to Talk? Free call or text 1737 any time to speak to a trained counsellor, for any reason
• Lifeline: 0800 543 354 or text HELP to 4357
• Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 / 0508 TAUTOKO. This is a service for people who may be thinking about suicide, or those who are concerned about family or friends
• Depression Helpline: 0800 111 757 or text 4202
• Samaritans: 0800 726 666
• Youthline: 0800 376 633 or text 234 or email talk@youthline.co.nz
• What’s Up: 0800 WHATSUP / 0800 9428 787. This is free counselling for 5 to 19-year-olds
• Asian Family Services: 0800 862 342 or text 832. Languages spoken: Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Hindi, and English.
• Rural Support Trust Helpline: 0800 787 254
• Healthline: 0800 611 116
• Rainbow Youth: (09) 376 4155
• OUTLine: 0800 688 5463
• Aoake te Rā bereaved by suicide service: or call 0800 000 053

If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.

Sexual Violence

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

An Antarctic sediment sample dating back millions of years shows evidence that a major ice sheet partially or totally collapsed during a previous warm period.

The sediment core was retrieved by a New Zealand-led research team from beneath half a kilometre of ice, during a record-breaking mission in a remote part of Antarctica.

It will now help answer the question of when, and how drastically, the West Antarctic ice sheet might melt as the climate keeps warming – releasing up to five metres of sea level rise as it goes.

Previously, the largest samples retrieved from that deep beneath an Antarctic ice sheet were only about 10 metres in length.

Camping on the ice, 1100 kilometres from the nearest permanent base, the team used a huge drill rig to extract a 228-metre sample of mud and rock, three metres at a time.

It dates back an estimated 23 million years – giving climate researchers an enormous geological record to examine.

“It still feels a little bit unreal, to be honest,” expedition co-chief scientist Molly Patterson said.

“I can’t imagine anything else in my professional life scaling that experience up.”

Collecting the sample was crucial to confirming models of what might happen to the West Antarctic Ice Sheet as the temperature warms by 2°C or more.

At the moment, the ice sheet is protected by ice shelves – floating layers of ice formed by the ice sheet flowing off the Antarctic continent.

Without them, the flow of ice into the ocean will accelerate, meaning the potential collapse of the entire ice sheet.

Some of the smaller shelves could collapse within years, but the Ross Ice Shelf, the largest of them, is still stable – for now.

However, early analysis of the sample confirms what the researchers already suspected from previous modelling – that there was a period in history when, instead of thick ice in that part of Antarctica, there was open ocean.

Patterson’s fellow co-chief, Huw Horgan, said from about the 200-metre mark, they started finding diatoms in the sample – small photosynthetic creatures that can only exist when there’s light.

“When there’s a thick ice shelf, no light gets through, so these organisms can’t live in the presence of the ice above them.

“So, they really tell you that there was open ocean, that there was no ice shelf, that there was no ice sheet there at the time they were deposited. So, it’s a very direct indicator of open ocean conditions at the site.”

The core has been transported safely to New Zealand and the next step is to accurately date it, Horgan said.

“Being able to then take that and relate it to what the temperature was in the past, what global temperatures were in the past, that’s really strong evidence for what we can expect the ice sheets to do in the future.”

That would also help to determine the rate at which any melting might occur.

All of that information would be fed into models of sea-level rise, which is expected to affect one billion people by the end of this century – within the lifetimes of children alive today.

“No one’s going to put their hand up and say, I want an unstable West Antarctica, I want four to five metres of sea level [rise],” Horgan said.

“But for me, any trepidation in finding out that result, finding out that there’s the absence of ice in these places is tempered by the fact that now we’re informed and better informed is better prepared.”

Third season lucky

The sediment was collected from a location where the Ross Ice Shelf and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet meet, called Crary Ice Rise.

There is no permanent base there.

Instead, an advance team transported equipment 1100km across the ice shelf from Scott Base, so the expedition could camp out for weeks while they set up the drill rig and got to work.

It was the third attempt, after equipment failures during the 2024 and 2025 Antarctic summer seasons.

Head driller Tony ‘TK’ Kingan has been travelling to Antarctica for nearly 30 years to work on drilling projects.

This expedition was more technically difficult than most, because the ice was directly touching the bedrock – meaning the ground beneath the ice was also frozen, he said.

Before they could even start extracting sediment, the drilling team used a hot water drill to get through the 500 metres of ice sitting on top of it.

They then lowered a ‘riser’ – essentially a long pipe – through the hole in the ice so the drill could pass through it to the ground below.

“Whenever we stopped drilling in the ground itself, the hole would want to start freezing,” Kingan said.

To stop that happening, the drilling team had to keep the riser moving, and hot water circulating around the clock.

“Right to the bitter end, it was pretty full-on, pretty stressful. We’re running 24 hours in that instance over the drilling period,” he said.

“You can’t really relax until all the gear is out of the hole and the project’s done and we haven’t hurt anyone or lost any gear.”

Patterson said the first piece of core came up while she was off-duty – but she made sure to be there.

“I was working the night shift and it was during the day shift, but I just, I wouldn’t have been able to sleep or stay away. I just personally wanted to witness it.”

There was “a huge sense of relief” that the expedition had succeeded, Patterson said.

“Just because [of] the past two seasons, the challenges we’ve had, and also recognising how technologically difficult all this was.”

Horgan said the drilling team had managed the scientists’ expectations about what the first core might look like.

“There’s often nothing in it, and if there is, it might just be what they call drilling mud, which is just the fluid they put down to lubricate everything,” he said.

“And when the first core came up, it was actual core, and it was rock. And that was a fantastic feeling.”

There were brief celebrations when the first core came up, and again at landmark depths – 50m, 100m and 200m.

“There’s definitely a pat on the back and a hug,” Horgan said.

“And the geologists are great. They’ll celebrate different rock types. So you get a core which has a different rock type, and suddenly a message will whip around the camp, and everyone’s coming and running to see the core.”

The science team is now finalising plans for a full analysis, so they can begin working on the results.

Horgan said there will also be discussions about future expeditions, including to the site of their previous failed attempts.

“We’re going to want to acquire more data in different places, sampling different parts of the geological record and looking at different ice sheet processes.

“We’ve got this incredible capability now, and I think it would be wise to use it.”

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

The small Northland settlement where a woman was mauled to death by a pack of dogs is devastated, a councillor and kaumātua for the region says.

Emergency crews rushed to Kaihu north of Dargaville on Monday and Police remained at the scene several hours.

Cordon tape was tied across the gate.

The community is tiny – the pub is for sale, there’s rugby field, a small gas station down the road and a smattering of homes.

“Our thoughts and our aroha is with the grieving family and the community,” Snow Tane told RNZ after learning of the attack.

He himself had driven by the scene before he knew what happened, taking note of the flurry of emergency vehicles that rushed there.

Tane had since heard from some who live in Kaihu.

“We’ve got a community there that’s absolutely devastated,” he said.

“So my thoughts are with the community and I’m really, you know, in the next few days, I hope to be able to support both the family and the community.”

Tane, a Kaipara councillor, will be freeing up his diary to do so.

“My sort of position is is very clear and it’s around dog owner responsibility and what that responsibility means and how we need to ensure that dog owners act in a more responsible manner,” he said.

“Because this has occurred, and it has occurred throughout New Zealand over the past 20 years and that and I think it’s really important that we need to make sure that dog owners understand and know what their responsibilities are, and two, we need to be checking and ensuring that there is compliance to those responsibilities.”

Tane said people should alert authorities immediately about any uncontrolled dogs in neighbourhoods and communities.

“Compliance officers should attend and act accordingly to these situations,” he said.

After the attack a local told RNZ the dogs had been at the property for about a year.

“There’s been so many complaints about them in the last year – the council know and haven’t done anything.

“They run out onto the road all the time. I was really scared about that and somebody getting hurt,” they said.

At least two dogs in the community were notorious for chasing cars as well as cyclists on the Kaihu Valley Bike Trail.

The Kaipara District Council would not say if the dogs that attacked and killed the woman were known to animal control.

Local Government Minister Simon Watts is asking officials for urgent advice after the death.

He said the Department of Internal Affairs is woking on the issue with local councils to improve dog control.

Watts expected new guidelines in the second half of this year.

Kaipara District mayor Jonathan Larsen called the death tragic and a sad situation for the families.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

The 10 newly-independent polytechnics have been kick-started with more than $325-million from their former owner, super-institute Te Pūkenga.

Vocational Education Minister Penny Simmonds said the organisations were recapitalised with sufficient funds to cover three months’ spending plus any ring-fenced funds they took with them when they were subsumed by Te Pūkenga, the NZ Institute of Skills and Technology.

“Some polytechnics had significant reserves going into Te Pūkenga, while others had significant debt. Each polytechnic received three months of operating expenditure, plus their original ring-fenced reserves (if applicable) plus any other restricted funds (if applicable),” she said.

Simmonds said five Industry Skills Boards had temporarily taken over seven work-based learning divisions of the mega-institute which were recapitalised with $62.7m.

She said the money would ensure financial viability and sustainability of training during the transition phase while the boards were temporarily accountable for work-based learning.

Simmonds said any remaining funds would be returned to the Crown after work-based learning moved to a tertiary education organisation such as a polytechnic or private training provider.

However, any previously agreed ring-fenced reserves would got to the tertiary education organisation.

Simmonds said the funding was arranged by Te Pūkenga and the Tertiary Education Commission.

Canterbury institute Ara received $80.8m, while the combined United/Manukau Institute of Technology received $52m, and Eastern Institute of Technology $34.5m.

The Open Polytechnic and Southern Institute of Technology each received more than $27m and Otago and Waikato more than $24m each.

Nelson-Marlborough received $22.6m, Toi Ohomai $20m, and Ucol $11m.

Among the former work-based learning divisions, Competenz received $20.9m, the Primary ITO $14m, EarnLearn $8.7m, Connexis and Careerforce more than $6m each, ServiceIQ $4m, and HITO $1.7m.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Banks Peninsula has been hammered by nearly 10 times the average monthly rainfall in just 48 hours, MetService says.

The deluge has left the peninsula cut off, with slips and flooding blocking State Highway 75, the main road between Christchurch and Akaroa.

A state of emergency remains in Banks Peninsula, about 250 properties have been without power overnight, and there are also cell and internet outages.

Boil water notices are in place for Wainui and Little River.

Canterbury Civil Defence controller Duncan Sandeman said he didn’t know how long the peninsula would remain isolated – but reopening the road would be Wednesday’s priority.

“That’s a decision for NZTA, what I do know is that they’ll have contractors working pretty hard to get that lifeline reopened,” he said.

A damaged fibre optic cable was causing the communications outages, said Sandeman.

“That’s created a number of dramas … the comms is patchy, we know that the 2degrees cell network is able to take texts.”

People could also dial 111 in an emergency, he said, and civil defence staff were communicating via satellite phones.

School children stuck at camp

About 40 primary school children are stuck at Wainui Park Camp on the peninsula, and the manager has no regrets about the trip going ahead.

Wainui Park Camp is run by the Kind Foundation, and it’s been hosting a rural Christchurch school trip since Monday.

The foundation’s chief executive Josie Ogden Schroeder said the camp is well equipped with food, water, power and communications, and the group was staying in a building on a hill away from the river.

“This is a country school, they are full of beans, they’re totally relaxed … they’re all absolutely fine, they are very safe where they are,” she said.

“I don’t think that there’s any major concerns about safety, it’s more just the adventure of it all, and I believe that school is turning this into a pretty awesome learning experience for those kids.”

Despite the wet weather forecast, Ogden Schroeder said it was the right call to continue on with the camp.

“Heavy rain shouldn’t stop outdoor education because that’s actually the entire point of going away on camp is to actually experience the outdoors and learn about such things,” she said.

“However, if we had known … that the road would be cut off and such like, then of course then we would have been saying to schools, ‘look, this is not a sensible time for you to be coming to Wainui’.”

The camp was not badly damaged, save for a few small bridges over creeks, thanks to flood mitigation work over the last year, Ogden Schroeder said.

School trips scheduled for the rest of the week had been cancelled, she said.

Warning level questioned amid massive rainfall

MetService meteorologist Katie Lyons said Canterbury had seen a “huge amount” of rainfall – with Banks Peninsula in particular taking on nearly ten times the average monthly amount in just 48 hours.

Banks Peninsula

• 48 hours, Sunday night to Tuesday night: 300mm
• Monthly average rainfall: 35mm

Christchurch city

• 48 hours, Sunday night to Tuesday night: 40mm
• Monthly average rainfall: 30mm

Some Banks Peninsula locals have questioned why the MetService weather warning wasn’t upgraded from orange, to a rare red.

Lyons said it’s too soon to say whether it was the right call – but MetService would analyse it, which was standard practice.

“We don’t just look at the rainfall that has fallen, we look at the impacts that were actually felt, because sometimes the heaviest rain falls in places that no one lives, and that means no one cares,” she said.

There was a lot of “post-analysis” to get through which involved working with councils to understand how badly people were affected, Lyons said.

Red warnings are issued when there’s high confidence of extreme impact and risk to life, she said.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

A father shouted to his children to get clear of a large slip as it fell away from the base of his home – rendering it uninhabitable.

People in the lower North Island were confronting the damage to their neighbourhoods after heavy rain and high winds felled trees, flooded homes and closed schools yesterday.

Aaron Pahl said he arrived at his home in Stokes Valley – north of Wellington City – after picking up two of his children when their school was closed on Monday morning.

“I was looking from my path down at my backyard and I’m like ‘something’s not right here’. I looked at the ground and it’s just dropped about a metre and a half.

“About half an hour later, I was outside and I heard it start cracking, like all the trees just start cracking and crunching. So I pretty much screamed out to my kids ‘get your arses up here now!’ and I watched the whole thing just slide down the bank,” Pahl said.

Pahl said it felt like slow motion as his back fence, a green house and a section of scaffolding slid down into the valley behind his property, leaving his deck and the rear foundation of his home hanging above the precipice.

He said he estimated an area of yard about 30 by 10 square metres disappeared over the edge.

“It was a pretty big storm, but we’ve never had anything like that happen to us, never thought it would happen. The bank that slipped away had like 30 metre tall manuka trees on it. They were there for forever, massive trees and the roots must have been huge but obviously not huge enough to retain the bank,” Pahl said.

Pahl said the family only had time to grab a handful of personal belongings before they had to leave the property.

Later in the day he heard from a neighbour that council staff had been at the site.

“I went back and there’s letters all over the door saying damaged buildings, do not enter, stuff like that. And then there’s something that says the remedial work has to be done or the building has to be demolished,” Pahl said.

Pahl said the family was now “in limbo” – staying at his in-laws – as they waited to hear how his insurance company could help with an accommodation supplement to house them ahead of any potential repairs.

“I’ve just spent thousands of dollars doing the house up, new kitchen, new bathroom, recarpeting, redecorating the whole interior.

“I’ve spent pretty much most of my free time, doing up my own house so I can sell it to do better for my family. It’s – hopefully – not all lost, but it’s very unclear right now. If that goes down the drain, I’m pretty much screwed,” Pahl said.

A Lower Hutt City Council spokesperson confirmed Pahl’s home had been issued with a dangerous building notice.

They said the building had been assessed as “damaged enough not to be safe to be in” and details of what next steps had to be taken where outlined in the notice to the owner.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

The town of Akaroa on Canterbury’s Banks Peninsula will remain cut off overnight, with State Highway 75 closed because of slips and flooding that swamped Little River.

A local state of emergency was in place for the peninsula, where several hundred people remained without power and many more affected by telecommunications outages.

Little River Cafe and Store owner Cameron Gordon has lived in the settlement for 20 years but told RNZ he had never seen flooding so bad.

“This is the worst, significantly the worst by far”, he said.

“It’s the deepest water we’ve had and the most damage around town as well, no doubt.”

Gordon said the cafe had flooded five times, most recently last May when a foot of water washed through some businesses.

“We can’t do much yet, everything’s covered in water. We’re just sitting and waiting, feeling very frustrated and just over it. Well and truly over it. We’ve done this too many times,” he said.

“Our house also floods regularly with any heavy rain. We just seem to be in low land with pour drainage and seem to cop it. We’ll see what happens, see what the damage is and just go from there.”

A boil water notice was in place for Little River and Wainui, while about 250 households and businesses were expected to be without power overnight.

A damaged fibre line meant One New Zealand and Spark services were off-line but Two Degrees was working.

Civil defence chiefs said people should still call 111 in an emergency because it would go through the Two Degrees network.

Little River Campground owner Marcus Puentener said more than 300 millimetres of rain had fallen in the area, twice what forecasters had predicted.

“Two bridges are down, the driveway is pretty wrecked. A lot of water has come down off the road, out of the river and through the camp area,” he said.

“We’re trapped in Okuti Valley. There’s no power in Okuti Valley. There are slips on the roads blocking some residents in and at the bottom of the road there’s at least a foot, if not more, of water blocking any exit.”

Some tourists had international flights to catch but no way of making them, Puentener said.

Further down the road in Cooptown, Tim Wilson questioned whether there should have been more warning or greater urgency.

“This is right up there,” the long-time local said.

“Maybe it should have been a red weather watch instead of an orange but I don’t know if that makes any difference to the outcome. It’s going to be a big clean up.”

Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger said the the council was talking to the government about getting a Defence Force Unimog into the area.

“Cars can just not get through,” he told RNZ on Tuesday.

“It’s just a matter of just being able to get there with emergency services and get people out safely as well, so that’s the main concern.

“As well as getting power and comms on. People are feeling really isolated so we’ve got to sort that out as quick as we can.”

Heavy rain also caused widespread flooding in Christchurch, where the Heathcote River broke its banks.

People who lived near the river in suburbs like Opawa and Beckenham said they were used to the river flooding but the water was lapping ever-closer to their homes.

Stacey Hurst was not one of the lucky ones.

For the second time since she moved to Eastern Terrace two years ago she was mopping up in her garage after floodwater rushed in on Monday night.

“Once we realised it wasn’t going to slow down we moved everything upstairs to minimise the damage,” she said.

“We had an almost identical experience last year with about a foot of water coming into the shed.”

The wake from cars driving down the road made the problem worse, Hurst said.

“It just sends a big wave in here,” she said.

Hurst’s neighbours had avoided water getting into their homes but were shocked by the speed at which the river broke its banks, especially because last year’s floods followed days of heavy rain and coincided with king tides.

Georgia Sytema said the water rose quickly.

“This morning our whole yard was flooded, which doesn’t usually happen, it was up into the driveway. It’s a lot higher than usual,” she said.

Emeline Sales was also nervous as the water rose on Tuesday morning.

“We woke up to a big moat,” she said.

“This is the worst it’s been. It came all the way up to my husband’s car, it was quite deep this time around. It was cutting it close this time.

“It was the drains that started flooding first before the river actually broke. We haven’t had issues with the drains before but that’s what caused all the quite intense surface flooding and then the banks broke.”

Sam Guerin moved to nearby Hunter Terrace about three months ago.

He knew his home was in a flood management area and it was part of the reason he and his partner planned to knock down the house and rebuild further up the site.

Guerin said the scale of flooding was worse than anything he had prepared for.

“We were told that in one of the worst floods in the last 10 to 15 years, the water lapped at the driveway but it’s quite a lot worse than that and it happened so quickly,” he said.

“We were told the last time it flooded was before the council had done a lot of resilience measures, so it was surprising for the water to get as high as it did.”

The family had returned from a night out to find the river had burst its banks, the road was flooded and water was rising about 100 millimetres every hour.

“It was a bit of a sleepless night because we were coming out to check it wasn’t getting too close to the floor level and throughout the evening it was up on our verandah deck,” Guerin said.

“It was getting quite high, so that was a little concerning. It was under the house.”

Woolston was also affected, with Clarendon Terrace residents nervously watching the water as it washed over the riverbanks, onto the road and towards their properties.

Emily Jensen said she moved her cars on Monday night because the road had already flooded.

“I haven’t seen it that high up. I’m really surprised by how much flooding there is just after a day’s rain,” she said.

“It feels a little scary because if you were to think multiple days of rain and king tides on top of that, I don’t know what we’d be looking at.

“I would love to know the council are thinking about what to do in these areas because with climate change and everything’s that happening, it doesn’t feel so good to be down here. Five or six years ago we had a really big flooding event but the water didn’t come up the driveway at all, but now it’s coming up so it’s getting worse.

“It just creates anxiety about what you’re going to wake up to.”

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Some isolated Wairarapa residents are gutted they are cut off from their livelihoods and emergency services after a destructive storm ripped through the region.

Torrential rain and widespread flooding on Sunday and Monday has washed out the Lake Ferry Road bridge over the Turangaui River – cutting off settlements in Ngawi, Lake Ferry and Cape Palliser.

While crews were preparing to fix the bridge today, the South Wairarapa District Council said that now will not happen today.

Fisherman Lance Maindonald said the timing of the bridge washout could not be worse.

He was meant to be pulling up crayfish, but found himself trapped on the wrong side of the road.

“Bit of a kick in the guts because we’re coming towards the end of crayfish season too, so that costs a lot of money too if you don’t have all your quota caught,” Maindonald said.

Floodwaters have gouged out about a three metre hole in the bridge.

Maindonald spoke with contractors today, and he reckoned repairs to the Lake Ferry Road bridge could take up to three days.

He said this made things difficult for people on the coast.

“I’ve got me son that lives out there in a bach, so we’re just getting them to get their list together, we can chuck supplies over the bridge, keep everyone tickety-boo until we can get access down to the next bridge.”

An RNZ reporter on the scene said this afternoon locals have formed a human chain via a patch of concrete which had not been washed away, and were passing bread, eggs and nappies across the other side.

A South Wairarapa District Council spokesperson said emergency teams were working to get more supplies to the cut off communities.

Ngawi chief fire officer Kerry Hayes said he was concerned about access in an emergency.

“Especially if you need paramedics to come out, how are they going to get here – it’s a helicopter at this stage – so that’s always a little bit of a concern if the roads have been cut off.”

Hayes said residents were a little apprehensive and they needed to be prepared.

Meanwhile, the Hurupi bridge – located further along the South Wairarapa coast – has also been damaged.

Emergency controller Simon Taylor said the main priority for teams today had been contacting isolated residents.

“We just need to understand, are those communities safe? Have they got sufficient supplies to keep them going for seven to 10 days, and until we can actually get roads reopened.”

More than 1000 people are still without power in Wairarapa, and about 2300 in the Wellington region.

In Wellington’s southern suburb of Makara, resident Mike Hanning had his power cut after fierce winds tore down power lines on Takura Gorge Rd overnight on Sunday.

He said the loose lines were dangerous.

“The next pole down three of the four lines are off completely, and are just laying in the paddock, and then we’ve got one line draped across the road that is actually dropped by probably about three metres in the middle, and it’s actually getting hit by the likes of the school bus and trucks that are going passed.”

Hanning said he did not know when his power would be back on, but he had borrowed a generator to get by.

“Thanks to a generous neighbour, we got that last night, otherwise we’d have a freezer full of food that’s going to have to be dispersed.”

Wellington Electricity said it hoped to restore power for most people by this evening.

But it said some fixes to individual properties may not be restored until the end of the week.

Hutt Valley residents spent the morning cleaning up after the Waiwhetu stream became a “raging torrent” yesterday.

On Monday morning, people in nearby Heather Grove people were told to self evacuate if they felt unsafe.

BJ Rauhihi said it was “panic stations” – as the stream broke its banks and water began to swamp the area early in the morning.

“It just started getting worse and worse and then you could see it was starting to fill up the rest of the street but when you look down there, yeah it was like a raging torrent really.”

Chris Kaye said she was helping to clear bark off the street this afternoon.

She said the storm was pretty scary, and scattered a lot of debris on the ground.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

A father shouted to his children to get clear of a large slip as it fell away from the base of his home – rendering it uninhabitable.

People in the lower North Island were confronting the damage to their neighbourhoods after heavy rain and high winds felled trees, flooded homes and closed schools yesterday.

Aaron Pahl said he arrived at his home in Stokes Valley – north of Wellington City – after picking up two of his children when their school was closed on Monday morning.

“I was looking from my path down at my backyard and I’m like ‘something’s not right here’. I looked at the ground and it’s just dropped about a metre and a half.

“About half an hour later, I was outside and I heard it start cracking, like all the trees just start cracking and crunching. So I pretty much screamed out to my kids ‘get your arses up here now!’ and I watched the whole thing just slide down the bank,” Pahl said.

Pahl said it felt like slow motion as his back fence, a green house and a section of scaffolding slid down into the valley behind his property, leaving his deck and the rear foundation of his home hanging above the precipice.

He said he estimated an area of yard about 30 by 10 square metres disappeared over the edge.

“It was a pretty big storm, but we’ve never had anything like that happen to us, never thought it would happen. The bank that slipped away had like 30 metre tall manuka trees on it. They were there for forever, massive trees and the roots must have been huge but obviously not huge enough to retain the bank,” Pahl said.

Pahl said the family only had time to grab a handful of personal belongings before they had to leave the property.

Later in the day he heard from a neighbour that council staff had been at the site.

“I went back and there’s letters all over the door saying damaged buildings, do not enter, stuff like that. And then there’s something that says the remedial work has to be done or the building has to be demolished,” Pahl said.

Pahl said the family was now “in limbo” – staying at his in-laws – as they waited to hear how his insurance company could help with an accommodation supplement to house them ahead of any potential repairs.

“I’ve just spent thousands of dollars doing the house up, new kitchen, new bathroom, recarpeting, redecorating the whole interior.

“I’ve spent pretty much most of my free time, doing up my own house so I can sell it to do better for my family. It’s – hopefully – not all lost, but it’s very unclear right now. If that goes down the drain, I’m pretty much screwed,” Pahl said.

A Lower Hutt City Council spokesperson confirmed Pahl’s home had been issued with a dangerous building notice.

They said the building had been assessed as “damaged enough not to be safe to be in” and details of what next steps had to be taken where outlined in the notice to the owner.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

A woman accused of defrauding a man out of more than half a million-dollars in an alleged 18-year romance scam has appeared in court for the first time today.

The 44-year-old Auckland woman was arrested last week after a search warrant was carried out by the Dunedin Police and assisted by the Auckland City Financial Crime Unit.

She appeared in court on Tuesday charged with obtaining more than $517,000 from the unsuspecting Dunedin man between 2006 to 2024.

Judge Belinda Sellars KC granted her interim name suppression and remanded her on bail. She has been charged with obtaining by deception.

Police said romance scams were usually carried out by offshore offenders, making prosecutions difficult for law enforcement.

They often involved someone falling in love online, and giving the scammer money, without ever meeting in-person.

Speaking broadly about romance scams, head of Auckland’s Financial Crimes Unit Detective Senior Sergeant Craig Bolton told RNZ he had never seen a local perpetrator before.

“I’ve been in this role for three years and I haven’t seen one local as a perpetrator,” he said.

“It’s all offshore, it’s all scam centres around the world.”

Bolton said offshore perpetrators were impossible to catch.

“From New Zealand, impossible, there’s no lines of inquiry, the scam centres use layering through numerous jurisdiction and countries before they actually receive the funds so there’s no way of us following it.”

Detective Bolton warned those online against potential scams.

“If you are falling in love online, highly likely it’s a scam, if you are befriending someone online, highly likely it’s a scam, if you are being convinced to invest online, highly likely it’s a scam,” he said.

“Nearly every single one of these examples starts with online contact. The victims never meet the person in person, it’s all done online and they’re always scams.”

Bolton said scammers made up excuses like being on military deployment or on an oil rig to avoid meeting in person.

He said police were seeing fewer romance scams recently.

“End of last year, there were two or three that we saw, and then this year we haven’t seen one romance scam complaint in Auckland City District.”

They were, however, being replaced by crypto currency scams, he said.

“The scammer is befriending the victim, and/or falling in love with the victim online, and the victim’s being convinced to invest in crypto.”

Bolton said victims were convinced to invest into a crypto wallet controlled by the scammer, where they are tricked into investing more money.

Police saw cases of crypto scams every week, he said.

Offering broad advice, Netsafe chief online safety officer Sean Lyons said romance scams could take many forms.

“They might now look like much more complicated investment scams, that can be in a whole range of different forms, but at some point the original convincer probably was some kind of romantic relationship.”

“Our numbers for those kinds of scams are probably still on the increase, but that straight categorisation as a ‘this is a romance scam’ is possibly falling away,” he said.

Those concerned they were being scammed should take a step back moment to look at the whole picture, Lyons said

“Take a beat and think about what it is that’s happening here, aside from the romantic side of what’s happening, how much risk or how exposed am I in what it is that I’m about to do,” he said.

“If you feel uncomfortable with that, it doesn’t mean the relationship’s over, but it just might mean that you take that kind of power or take that moment to say ‘actually, the relationship aside, I’m not comfortable doing this so I’m not going to do it’.”

Lyons said it could be difficult for people to spot scam flags at the best of times, no matter what they may be.

“Often one kind of flag on its own is easily explained away, or could easily be missed, but it’s often the picture that if people are able to stand back at a period or get another persons view that’s not quite so emotionally invested in the relationship itself, that suddenly these things can become very clear,” he said.

Changing the course of a conversation suddenly to money, often with time pressure, or the speed in which a relationship may be moving could be flags to look out for, Lyons said.

The alleged scammer was scheduled to reappear in court next month.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

A High Court judge in Auckland has reserved her decision on whether to overturn a District Court ruling that voided the outcome of the 2025 local body election in Papatoetoe.

The petition had been filed by the Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team, which won all four seats on the Local Board subdivision.

Closing proceedings for the day, High Court Justice Jane Anderson said it was a “tricky, conceptual, intellectual exercise”.

The judge promised to deliver the decision as quickly as possible.

Ben Keith, legal counsel representing the winning candidates, called Manukau District Court Judge Richard McIlraith’s decision in December “neither fair, nor sound”.

In his submissions, Keith said the District Court appeared to accept the argument presented by former Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board member Lehopoaome Vi Hausia that a 7 percent increase in voter turnout could only be explained by misconduct.

However, Kieth argued the court should have considered other possibilities, pointing to a lengthy list of campaign activities that had been undertaken by the Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team as well as extra votes that had been prompted by Auckland Council’s “vote on the go” events.

Keith also argued the District Court came to its decision after ignoring demographic changes that had boosted overall voter numbers in recent years, with a greater percentage of Indian households now living in the area.

Simon Mitchell, representing the Labour candidates in the local body election, described the voting irregularities as “significant”.

He dismissed claims the result was due to the winning candidates running a strong campaign or demographic changes in the electorate, describing the irregular special votes in Papatoetoe as an outlier compared to the remainder of Auckland.

Twenty candidates have since thrown their hat into the ring to contest the new Papatoetoe subdivision election that has been organised following the District Court ruling in December.

Voting opens on 9 March and closes at midday on 9 April, with ballots sent by post to all eligible voters.

In December, Judge McIlraith ruled that voting irregularities materially affected the result of the Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board election, declaring it void.

Hausia told the court he had received reports of voting papers being stolen from residents and submitted without their consent.

Hausia also argued the election result was inconsistent with historic voting patterns.

At a preliminary hearing, Judge McIlraith ordered five ballot boxes containing votes from the electorate to be scrutinised.

Seventy-nine voting papers were subsequently identified during examination as having been cast without the rightful voter’s knowledge.

Papatoetoe was the only Auckland electorate to record a significant rise in turnout in the latest local body election.

While other Auckland areas saw turnout drop, voting numbers in Papatoetoe increased by more than 7 percent.

All four seats went to first-time candidates from the Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team.

The Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board has two subdivisions, with the Ōtara having three seats and Papatoetoe four.

None of the previous local board members of the Papatoetoe subdivision were re-elected.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Follow our liveblog above.

The storm that caused widespread flooding and wind damage in the North Island has moved south, with Banks Peninsula to bear the brunt.

A Local State of Emergency has been declared for Banks Peninsula.

Christchurch’s Heathcote River has breached its banks.

Part of SH75, the main road from Christchurch to Akaroa, is closed and boil water notice is in place for Wainui on Banks Peninsula.

Meanwhile thousands of homes are still without power in the North Island.

Follow our liveblog at the top of this page.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

A local said there had been multiple complaints about dogs roaming in the area and chasing people before the death of a woman in Kaihu, Northland.

Emergency services were called to the property on State Highway 12 at 11.25am on Tuesday.

Upon arrival, police found a woman dead.

Kaipara District Council’s animal management team confirmed it had responded to an incident involving dogs and a person at a property earlier on Tuesday, and was now investigating.

Do you know more? Email iwitness@rnz.co.nz

The dogs had been secured.

“At this stage we’re unable to provide any further details or comment while a response and investigation is underway.”

Police were carrying out a scene examination and said there was no risk to the public in relation to the incident.

A local told RNZ there were complaints about dogs in the area made by multiple people but nothing had been done about it.

They said the dogs had been at the property for about a year.

In that time, they said they’d complained to Kaipara District Council at least four times about the dogs.

“There’s been so many complaints about them in the last year – the council know and haven’t done anything.

“They run out onto the road all the time. I was really scared about that and somebody getting hurt.”

They believed what had happened could have been avoided.

The local also said the dogs from that property ran after cars, motorbikes and push bikes when they came down the road.

The area was part of the Kaihu Valley cycle trail, and the local said tourists were often the ones on bikes on the road.

They said just a few months ago they’d heard of a couple who’d had to turn around on the road because of the dogs.

“I just don’t know how they can promote it [cycle trail] knowing there’s a dog problem down here.”

Checkpoint asked Kaipara District Council for a response to the local’s comments.

A spokesperson said the council “can’t provide any further information or comment on this incident while an investigation is underway.”

“Our staff are actively working with police now to understand the sequence of events and what occurred on the property today,” the spokesperson said.

St John confirmed an ambulance and helicopter were called to the scene at 11.22am, but referred further queries to police.

The incident comes amid growing calls for an overhaul of dog control laws.

Meanwhile, a Northlander whose relative was killed by dogs said today’s incident showed people needed to take dog ownership more seriously.

Bay of Islands-Whangaroa Community Board member Roddy Hapati Pihema’s aunt was killed by dogs in 2023.

“This is just unbelievable. There’s been a lot of lives taken by dogs, it’s concerning that this issue hasn’t been prioritised as much as it should be. We still have dogs running around on the streets, we still have dogs running through recreation reserves,” he said.

“This continues to be a really concerning space considering we’re not actually learning from the people being mauled, the people who have been unfortunate to lose their lives. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done,” Pihema said.

“The majority of people do [understand the risk of dogs] but there’s quite a large number out there that like to have the puppy but don’t want the responsibility of the dog.”

He said the council was doing what it could to tackle the issue, but there was little they could do if owners didn’t take responsibility.

A Whangārei woman who is trying to change animal ownership laws said she was heartbroken to learn of another fatal dog attack in her region.

Tracy Clarke said she was devastated to learn of the attack.

“My heart absolutely sunk and tears welled up because this has been going on now for far too long, too many people are losing their lives as a result of dog attacks.”

She had a petition before Select Committee to strengthen dog ownership laws.

“The current legislation is out of date and needs to be brought up to today’s dog population and the difference in ownership,” she said.

The petition seeks substantial changes to the dog ownership legislation and council bylaws, in order to end the problem of roaming dogs in New Zealand.

“We’re at crisis point as a nation and it needs to be sorted urgently.”

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Police are seeking the public’s help in solving a “high-value burglary” in West Auckland.

A “significant amount of silver and gold” was stolen from a home in Swanson sometime between 14 and 27 January, including one-ounce (28.3g) gold coins and 1kg silver bars.

“Each of the bars is imprinted with ‘MW’ (Morris & Watson) inscription,” Detective Shaun Galbraith said.

The combined value was “significant”, he said, but admitted the police needed help.

“We would like to hear from anyone who may have seen any suspicious people or vehicles around the Swanson Road and Christian Road areas between 14-27 January.

“If you noticed unusual activity near rural driveways, gate areas, or properties backing onto the Swanson rail corridor then please reach out.”

Anyone offered the purchase of gold and silver “in unusual circumstances” should get in touch he said, via 105 online or the phone, quoting reference number 260128/8576.

Alternatively an anonymous report could be made through Crime Stoppers on 0800 555.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

The government is seeking advice on whether to bring in a toll on the existing Auckland Harbour Bridge, to help pay for a second Waitematā Harbour crossing.

The Infrastructure Commission has suggested a toll as high as $9, a figure the Transport Minister says would be a “big decision” to make.

The government continues to mull over its options as to what a new crossing would look like, such as a tunnel or second bridge.

In the newly-released National Infrastructure Plan, the Infrastructure Commission said new revenue would be needed to fund the crossing.

High-level analysis suggested a $9 toll “on both new and existing crossings” could raise between $7 billion and $9 billion, depending on the tolling period.

“Higher tolls may not raise more revenue, as they would divert too many users and erode viability, and tolling only the new crossing would sharply limit revenue,” the Commission wrote.

“Other funding mechanisms are possible, but would likely require non-users to contribute funding which may not be considered equitable or favourable.”

When the bridge was first opened in 1959, motorists had to pay 2 shillings and 6 pence, a figure the Commission said equalled around $9 in 2025.

Tolls were removed in 1984.

Transport Minister Chris Bishop said the new crossing would be the biggest infrastructure project New Zealand has ever done.

While the new crossing would be tolled, a question remained over whether the existing bridge would be tolled as well.

“We are working our way through that. That’s a very big decision for the country to make,” he said.

Bishop said he would not get ahead of any decision, and the government was working through it in a “methodical and comprehensive way” as the Commission said it should do.

“We’re working our way through quite a complicated series of funding questions and financing questions around the second harbour crossing. It will be a very large infrastructure project. All large infrastructure projects have to be paid for. So we’re working our way through that.”

He said “in theory,” a new crossing should be able “wash its own face, financially,” due to the number of vehicle movements.

ACT leader David Seymour, an Auckland-based MP, said $9 per trip added up to $90 a week for some people who would already be trying to pay “tough” bills.

“I think you’re going to struggle with that level of price. But you could imagine that maybe at a peak hour, when it was mostly buses and ridesharing, maybe for a part of the day. But I don’t think making everybody pay $9 with no alternative is going to fly.”

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Wellington Water estimates around 3 million litres of untreated, unscreened wastewater has been discharged into the sea in the last 24 hours.

On 4 February the Moa Point Wastewater Plant failed, sending millions of litres of raw sewage into Cook Strait every day.

The majority of wastewater is being screened and discharged through the long outfall pipe, but excess volumes of unscreened wastewater are going into the sea through the short outfall pipe.

Wellington Water says Moa Point currently can only pump between 1300 and 1500 litres per second through the long outfall – more than enough for average dry weather flows.

Prior to this week’s stormy weather, the shortfall pipe had not had to be used since the plant flooded earlier this month.

Wellington Water asked the public to avoid flushing non-biodegradable items such as wet wipes and personal care products (ie. pads, tampons) to help reduce the amount of unscreened material being discharged from the short outfall pipe.

It said workers onsite at Moa Point were continuing to assess the damage, and working to manage odour and network flows.

“Our top priority is to increase the volume of screened wastewater that can be discharged via the long outfall pipe.”

Wellington Water said it was working this week to construct a much larger air vent on the outfall pipe to help improve the flow of water through the pipe.

“We are continuing to look for other options to increase the flow through the long outfall pipe, while screening remains the only treatment function in operation.”

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Rangitikei mayor wants people to stop taking “disaster sightseeing” trips into the back country because they are getting in the way of contractors doing their jobs.

“Sections of Marton and Taihape are also without electricity, and people should prepare to be without power for a number of days,” Andy Watson said on Tuesday, following bad weather.

Generators were being used to maintain water supplies in population centres.

Meanwhile, council staff and contractors were clearing a huge number of fallen trees from roads around the district and some local roads remained closed.

In its midday update on Tuesday, Powerco said there were about 8220 customers without power across its network area, with the most impacted regions being Whanganui (3284), Manawatū (3801) and Wairarapa (1103).

“Multiple poles and lines are down, particularly in the Whanganui and Manawatū regions, with complete rebuilds of sections of the electricity network needed before power can be restored,” the lines company said.

“One of the hardest-hit areas is Himatangi in Manawatū, where our contracting crews are needing to rebuild the power line network on some of the roads.”

Powerco said the severity of the damage meant it was unable to say when electricity supply would be restored.

“Good power restoration gains are expected on Tuesday with improved weather conditions in the regions hardest hit by wild weather overnight Sunday and [on Monday].”

The company said crews from throughout the North Island were helping restore power to customers in Whanganui-Rangitīkei, Manawatū-Tararua and Wairarapa.

“Helicopters have been used this morning to assess damage from the air, so that contracting crews can then access remote areas with the correct equipment.”

Meanwhile, Palmerston North Mayor Grant Smith said a small number of Ashhurst residents could expect ongoing disruption from the aftermath of the wild weather, but by-and-large the city had emerged unscathed.

Smith said the Saddle Road remained closed while council staff and contractors began the clean-up operation.

“My understanding is that there is still surface flooding there. It was a pretty big storm, so there’ll be some carnage there for a little while as the clean-up happens.

“Obviously trees [are] down, and what’s been washed down the Pohangina River as it joins up with the Manawatū.”

Smith said the Saddle and River Road area of Ashhurst was low-lying and prone to flooding.

About a dozen residents were evacuated in the early hours of Monday morning when officials became concerned about the Pohangina River. They were allowed to return home a few hours later.

Smith said officials tended to take a level of precaution when considering the area.

“We did declare a state of emergency in a precautionary approach, but some of our neighbours in the headwaters of the Rangitikei and Manawatū rivers were hit a lot worse than we were.”

Smith said Palmerston North had been able to release some staff to help with the clean-up in the Rangitikei and Tararua regions.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Follow our live blog for updates above.

A person has been killed by dogs at a property in Kaihu, Northland.

Emergency services were called to the property on State Highway 12 at 11.25am.

Upon arrival, police found a dead person.

Kaipara District Council’s animal management team confirmed they are responding to and investigating an incident involving dogs and a person at a property earlier on Tuesday.

The dogs have been secured.

“At this stage we re unable to provide any further details or comment while a response and investigation is underway.”

Police, who are also carrying out a scene examination, said there is no risk to the public in relation to the incident.

St John confirmed an ambulance and helicopter were called to the scene at 11.22 this morning, but referred further queries to police.

The incident comes amid growing calls for an overhaul of dog control laws.

A resident of the Far North community of Ahipara last week told RNZ residents had been arming themselves with sticks to protect against roaming dogs.

Follow our live blog for updates at the top of this page.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

A Wellington woman says she returned home to find rooms in her Kingston flat open to the elements after Sunday night’s wild weather.

People in the lower North Island were confronting the damage to their neighbourhoods after heavy rain and high winds felled trees, flooded homes and closed schools yesterday.

More than 10,000 people were still without power in the lower North Island.

Powerco was reporting 8220 properties without power across Manawatū, Whanganui and Wairarapa.

While in Wellington, 2300 homes and businesses remained without power on Tuesday morning.

Wellington Electricity said it expected most customers to be back online by Tuesday evening but some in the hardest-hit areas could have to wait until the end of the week.

The Wellington Regional Emergency Management Office was warning people to take care when clearing fallen branches, and to be on the watch for slips and unstable ground.

The roof had torn off

Sarah Lyne – an RNZ employee – said she chose to spend the night at a friends knowing that her rented flat was in poor condition.

“I showed up the next day to find my roof tiles absolutely everywhere. Over my driveway, over my yard, getting onto the street. Went inside and found pink [insulation] bats everywhere. Basically the roof had torn off,” Lyne said.

She said she fire crews called in to secure the roof soon spotted other damage from the vantage point on top of her home and had to move on to assist other people nearby.

Lyne said she was extremely grateful to her neighbours who acted quickly – putting tarpaulins in place to protect the building – despite the continued high winds.

“My neighbours immediately jumped into action. They grabbed a ladder – it was quite dangerous – jumped up, checked the damage, took a bunch of photos and grabbed some tarp and immediately covered as much as [they] could. My place would be in a lot worse state if it wasn’t for them,”

She said she had no idea how long it would be before her home would be habitable again.

‘Panic stations’ in the early morning

In Lower Hutt this morning, residents near the flooded Waiwhetu Stream were cleaning up debris washed across the neighbourhood.

On Monday morning people in nearby Heather Grove people were told to self evacuate if they felt unsafe.

BJ Rauhihi said it was “panic stations” – as the stream broke its banks and water began to swamp the area early in the morning.

“It just started getting worse and worse and then you could see it was starting to fill up the rest of the street but when you look down there, yeah it was like a raging torrent really.”

Rauhihi said it was nerve racking to realise he could no longer see the footpath or his street’s grass berms.

“We hit the panic stations and then we are started packing stuff up and getting ready,” Rauhihi said.

In the end Rauhihi said he was able to stay in his home. He said Civil Defence workers did a great job.

“The last time it flooded like this on Heather Grove was 20 years ago but this event was worse.

“It was terrible, you just don’t know what to do with yourself, I was probably in a little bit of shock,” Rauhihi said.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand