A major effort continues in the Bay of Plenty to clean up the mess left by ex-tropical Cyclone Gabrielle, which felled trees, blocked roads and forced schools to close.
State Highway 2 through the Karangahake Gorge has now reopened, and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency says travel to and from Coromandel should be possible by tomorrow morning, provided the network does not deteriorate further.
Power has been restored to thousands but this evening Powerco warned some homes may not be reconnected this week.
Around half of the 19,040 people without power on Tuesday had been reconnected to the Powerco network as of 5pm.
Powerco head of network operations Caz Haydon said crews made “good progress” but 8819 customers were still without power — 407 in the Bay of Plenty and 5426 in the Coromandel.
Haydon said access issues in some areas meant people should prepare to be without power for the rest of the week.
Moturiki Leisure Island is now open, however, Mauao remains closed, Tauranga City Council said.
“The maunga will reopen once it is safe to do so and we will update you once this happens. We appreciate everyone’s patience as we work to clear slips and assess damage. Signage and barriers are in place at all closure points and are there to ensure public safety.”
With the weather subsiding, Powerco said it was optimistic it could restore power to many more customers today impacted by the storm.
Massive tree brought down in Memorial Park during fierce gales overnight on Monday. Photo / Sandra Conchie
Meanwhile, Internet customers in Rotorua, Tauranga and Taupō are also experiencing outages to their ultra fast broadband services.
Vodafone chief executive Jason Paris, via his Twitter account, said there were 272 cell sites down from the cyclone, “mainly due to power”.
He said the fibre link in Taupō, Tauranga and Rotorua was being fixed and some services should start again around 8.30am The Vodafone website said the start time of the outage was 8.41pm on Tuesday and was under investigation.
People have taken to social media saying their connection was still down this morning in various locations.
Test match going ahead
Mount Maunganui cricket ground Bay Oval will go ahead as the venue for tomorrow’s Black Caps and English match.
“We have been extremely fortunate given all the bad weather and the devastation other regions have experienced, to have had no damage to the oval. In fact, I would say we have dodged a bullet. The oval is looking the best it’s ever been.
Western Bay of Plenty Council said this morning bins in Ōmokoroa, Te Puna, Minden, and Whakamarama (to Wairoa River) may not get picked up today and residents are asked to put them out again tomorrow if they’re not collected.
According to MetService data, wind gusts started to pick up in Tauranga after midday yesterday and reached a peak around 9-10pm of 91km/h, before dropping after midnight.
In the 24 hours to 6am today, up to 160mm of rain fell in the Western Bay of Plenty and 100mm in Rotorua and Eastern Bay.
The forecast for tomorrow is for fine weather with strong winds, and all watches and warnings for the Bay and Coromandel have been lifted.
Image 1 of 16: Massive tree brought down in Memorial Park during fierce gales overnight on Monday. Photo / Sandra Conchie
The Bay of Plenty Regional Council reported waves had reached heights of 6.8 metres in places during the storm, and lakes in the region rose 50mm to 100mm.
A temporary do not swim alert was in place for all of the Bay of Plenty region for two to three days after heavy rain as many swim spots in these areas will have a high risk of contamination.
No signage will be erected as this is general advice for all waterways.
In response to what he called an “unprecedented weather event”, Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty signed a declaration of a state of national emergency at 8.43am.
It applied to regions that had declared a regional state of emergency: Northland, Auckland, Tairāwhiti, Bay of Plenty, Waikato, and Hawke’s Bay, with the Tararua District later added.
State of national emergency
“This declaration will enable the Government to support the affected regions, provide additional resources as they are needed, and help set the priorities across the country for the response,” McAnulty said.
A slip on Matarangi Rd on the Coromandel.
Power outages
Powerco said, as of 8am today, it had 1013 customers without power in the Bay of Plenty and 7462 in the Coromandel.
Powerco head of operations Caz Haydon said yesterday they had made some progress reconnecting people but accessing fault sites was a challenge.
In Coromandel, attempts to assess faults using a helicopter in Tairua became too hazardous because of high winds.
“With the storm moving away and conditions easing from Wednesday, we’re optimistic we can make good progress in getting the power back on.
Fallen trees cause disruptions
A tree believed to be more than 100 years old at Yatton Park was uprooted in the storm. Ash Macrae, who lived nearby, said her wife heard what sounded like a “crack of thunder then the whole house was shaking”.
“We thought we were going to lose the house,” she said. She was surprised when the home got through the storm apparently unscathed.
The large tree fell away from the houses on the edge of the park, about 15m from where it was rooted.
A fallen tree in Yatton Park. Photo / Cira Olivier
The council estimated 30 trees had fallen in the city, including on Botanical, Cameron, Devonport, Ngatai and Waihi Rds.
Fallen trees led to the closure of multiple parks and tracks, including all tracks on Mauao. Tauranga Golf Course would be closed for two days because of the number of trees down.
Tutarawānanga - Yatton Park, McLaren Falls, Fergusson Park, Kulim Park, Beach Road Reserve, Omanu Beach carpark, Pāpāmoa Domain, Taylor Reserve Carpark, Harrisons Cut Beach Accessway, and Waikareao Estuary Walkway from Maxwells Rd to Coach Dr were all closed.
Council commissioner Anne Tolley praised the work of those involved in the response and clean-up.
“We are grateful that things aren’t worse here and that our infrastructure has held up well.”
Residents were asked to continue to conserve water.
Highway updates
SH29 in the lower Kaimai is open, as is SH33.
State Highway 2 between Gisborne and Opotiki and SH35 between Gisborne and Potaka is closed.
Tapu Coroglen Rd is CLOSED and impassable for the foreseeable future. Location is 10km from Tapu. Additional slips have been cleared for resident access.
Kauaeranga Valley Rd is CLOSED due to flooding and large slips Road will have to remain closed overnight.
Victoria St, Thames is CLOSED due to flooding and a large slip Road will have to remain closed overnight.
Blackjack Road is closed to all traffic except residential access.
An area of road subject to previous damage has suffered significant movement overnight, and while passable with care, should not be used unless access is needed.
Council geotechnical staff will inspect the area as soon as possible.
Evacuations
Hundreds of people across the Bay of Plenty were forced to evacuate from their homes as the storm raged.
Pukehina, Waihi Beach, Athenree and Maketu residents were told before midnight they may be forced to evacuate if the storm worsened.
No one needed to use the evacuation centre at Trustpower Baypark.
Avalon Mikaere, who manned the Whetu Marae evacuation centre overnight, said nobody came in seeking support.
“I’m feeling very pleased because it means everybody is safe.”
Schools
Ministry of Education deputy secretary Te Tai Whenua (central) Jocelyn Mikaere said 75 schools and kura were closed in the Bay of Plenty/Waikariki region, affecting around 25,600 students.
There were also 122 early childhood education providers that had shut. She said schools and early learning services were not required to inform the Ministry if they had closed.
Tauranga Boys’ School principal Andrew Turner said the school had “suffered significant tree damage from the cyclone” and would remain closed tomorrow to allow time for repairs.
“[Tree damage] has compromised the health and safety of the school site.”
Cyclone impacts deliveries
No Bay of Plenty Times papers made it to Tauranga or Mount Maunganui on Tuesday morning because of blocked roads. All subscribers will be credited automatically and NZME apologises for the disruption.
What is a state of emergency?
The Bay of Plenty was under a regional state of emergency but this morning a national state of emergency has been declared by the Government in response to the effects of Cyclone Gabrielle.
This covered the regions across New Zealand that have declared regional states of emergency.
This declaration did not affect what was already under way in the Bay, but allowed response teams the ability to move national resources across the country to help those areas that have been most affected.
This declaration enabled the Government to support regions that have been most affected and set priorities across the country for the response.
