UPDATE, 9.43am Friday 13 January – Please note White Rock Road is now open to 4 wheel drive and smaller vehicles only. Kawaika Road and Cape River Road are also open. But extreme caution is required at all times as slips and debris could potentially block the road again.
Tora Road and Pahaoa Road are closed until further notice.
MEDIA STATEMENT
KAIWAKA RD OPEN
CAPE RIVER RD OPEN
EXTREME CAUTION AT ALL TIMES
SLIPS, TREES AND DEBRIS STILL COMING DOWN POTENTIAL FOR ROADS TO BE BLOCKED AT ANYTIME
TORA RD CLOSED UNTILL FURTHER NOTICE
PAHAOA RD CLOSED UNTILL FURTHER NOTICE
MEDIA STATEMENT
12 January 2023
South Wairarapa district has been hit hard by the tail-end effects of Cyclone Hale.
- The White Rock community has been isolated by flooding at the Tuturumuri School area.
- Tora and Te Awaiti are blocked off by a 40-50 metre slip on Tora Road at Little Tora (Elworthy Gorge).
- Flooding on Moeraki Rd has restricted roading crews’ access to Pahaoa Road to assess the damage and reinstate access.
Around 100 households are in the wider area, however, level of impact on everyone is still being assessed. We understand some residents had lost power, which Powerco advises has now been restored, as has telecommunications. Council roading crews have been deployed but are hampered by floodwater and ongoing land movement, with land re-slipping following initial clearance.
Council’s Roading Manager, Tim Langley advises, “We need to wait for floodwaters to recede and will continue to clear the slips and assess the state of the roads as soon as possible, but these may take several days to clear fully. The Council is sourcing an additional excavator that is large enough to clear a slip of this scale at Little Tora”.
The Council is very conscious that people living in those areas are directly impacted and may have needs that require urgent response. We are in touch with emergency services to let them know the latest on the situation and the Council is being supported to contact affected residents to assess any urgent needs.
Powerco was flying a helicopter over Tora today to assess the power infrastructure and will provide Council with information of road damage at the same time.
Stefan Corbett, SWDC’s Group Manager Partnerships and Operations says Council has been in touch with Waka Kotahi and will be making an emergency application for repair funds.
“Although worst of the weather appears to be over, water will be subsiding very slowly and may rise at any time if more rain falls. We urge residents who are working on clearing slip damage to be very careful and not put themselves in any danger”, he said.
Fulton Hogan and their local subcontracting teams are working to their best ability in very trying circumstances and have been doing long hours. Many have cut their holidays short to respond. Please respect their activities and requests as they go about this important and urgent work.
Elsewhere, the Waihenga bridge at Martinborough closed during the night of 11 January, however, the river level has dropped since and it is open again.
Urgent inquiries and photos/information on the extent of any damage may be sent to enquiries@swdc.govt.nz
For power-related enquiries please ring your power retailer or log a fault on the Powerco website www.powerco.co.nz/outages/report-an-outage
END
Media contact:
Sheil Priest, General Manager, Communications & Engagement
Mob: 027 252 2863
Email: media@swdc.govt.nz
