Emergency response

Kia ora everyone! We’ve got some good news to share regarding the weather.

MetService updated their weather watches and warnings just after 8.30pm tonight (Sun 12 April), and there is now only one area of concern for the region.

Tararua District - you have a strong wind warning in place until 7am Mo…

Kia ora everyone! We’ve got some good news to share regarding the weather.

MetService updated their weather watches and warnings just after 8.30pm tonight (Sun 12 April), and there is now only one area of concern for the region.

Tararua District - you have a strong wind warning in place until 7am Monday. The forecast is for severe gale northwesterlies in exposed places, gusting 120 km/h. Damage to trees, powerlines, and unsecured structures is possible. Driving may be difficult, especially for high-sided vehicles and motorcycles.

All other watches and warnings are now over. Cyclone Vaianu ended up tracking further to the east than initially forecast, which means the western parts of our region have been less impacted than initially forecast.

If you’re in a place where there’s no watches or warnings, you may still have some rough weather overnight. Continue to take care.

We have no state of emergency declarations anywhere across the region, and do not expect any based on the forecast.

Advice we’ve got from Horizons Regional Council indicates we’re not looking at river flooding. Having rivers at low flow after dry weather means they had lots of capacity to cope with the rain which did fall.

We’ve got staff who can be on all night if required. However, we’ll continue to assess the situation.

If we do head off later this evening, it doesn’t mean no one is there to help you if need be. Emergency services are there 24/7 as per usual, and just a 111 call away.

At this stage, we may not do another update until tomorrow morning. Continue to stay alert & look after each other.