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Westport households advised to leave

Amber Allott and Katie Townshend

Residents in parts of Buller have been advised to voluntarily evacuate their homes following updated forecasts and flood modelling.

Buller Civil Defence controller Al Lawn said approximately 140 households across three parts of Westport had been asked to selfevacuate.

It was safer for both residents and emergency services to evacuate in daylight, rather than at 2am or 3am today, he said.

Buller deputy mayor Sharon Roche said they were ‘‘very aware’’ of another front expected to come through on Friday.

The council was doing everything it could to avoid a repeat of the situation in February, where two back-to-back rain events caused significant flooding in some parts of Westport, she said.

Lawn earlier said there was no need for a general evacuation of Westport at this time, but voluntary evacuations may be needed because of stormwater ponding, surface flooding and stopbank seepage.

Welfare arrangements were activated in Seddonville and Mokihinui because of the risk of river flows similar to or higher than those during February’s weather event in the district.

On Tuesday, a regional state of emergency was declared on the West Coast after a day of heavy rain and rising rivers. A red warning for heavy rain was issued by MetService for the area.

The Buller River was likely to peak in Westport early to midmorning today.

The tide would be slightly higher than it was in February, and the combination of rainfall, river flows, tide and sea swell increased the risk of flooding in areas that were affected at that time.

West Coast group controller Te Aroha Cook said those who experienced flooding in February, or who felt vulnerable due to the proximity to the Orowaiti River, may want to consider evacuating. ‘‘There may also be stormwater ponding, surface flooding and stopbank seepage.

‘‘Self-evacuation includes making arrangements for pets and lifting valuables.’’

Rivers in Westland were also still expected to rise.

‘‘We are watching the Hokitika River closely. We know that it is currently high and more rain is expected. Peak flows are anticipated to coincide on a falling tide,’’ Cook said.

The Westland Emergency Operations Centre was activated at 7am yesterday.

The Westland District Council warned more heavy rain was forecast for the weekend.

National News

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2022-08-18T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-08-18T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://stuff.pressreader.com/article/281612424189578

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