By RNZ
Parts of the Coromandel Peninsula are without power entering a fifth day and many roads remain closed as towns continue to clean up after Cyclone Gabrielle.
Coromandel-Thames Civil Defence controller Garry Towler told RNZ that with people still displaced from their homes the focus was on welfare support.
A break in the weather allowed for power restoration into Tairua and the roading network was opened up enough for Powerco to bring in big generators, Towler said.
But a “good percentage” of people in Tairua and Pauanui were still without power, as were seven or eight smaller communities.
Most local roads were still compromised, Towler said, with 40-50 slips on these roads keeping a lot of them closed.
On Wednesday evening, Waka Kotahi said it was quite confident by late Wednesday night or Thursday morning the SH25 around the Coromandel would be open but subject to a lot of traffic management.
”The supply chain should be able to resume to some degree [on Thursday] and so fingers crossed that’s going to happen.
”Slips on peninsula roads north of Whitanga have blocked access to some areas.
”There are some farmers in the northern third of Mercury Bay, up in the top part of the Coromandel who are fast running out of fuel and we are trying to establish access for them with Fonterra and Fed Farmers too to get some support up there,” Towler said.
MetService said heavy rain would continue to hit central New Zealand until Thursday with high waves along East Coast.
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