State of emergency extended for week

Westport’s town-wide cleanup will take time to complete, as army personnel help shift soggy and contaminated items from flooded homes. A Civil Defence Emergency Operations Centre spokeswoman said efforts on Thursday revealed the process could take at least another two days, on top of the three initially forecast. Yesterday Buller mayor Jamie Cleine signed a renewed state of emergency for another seven days. Another public meeting would most likely be held on Monday and would be streamed on the Buller Emergency Management page. About 100 houses had been confirmed as red-stickered by Thursday.