State of emergency to stay in force for weekend

By ELIZABETH BINNING

A state of emergency will continue through the weekend after news that the flood-stricken Whakatane District is still unstable.

Civil Defence decided after a meeting yesterday afternoon that there were still too many landslips and earthquakes and that too many homes were still underwater for the emergency to be lifted.

The situation will be reviewed on Monday at 4pm, when it is hoped the region will be more settled.

Civil Defence spokeswoman Diane Turner said problems in the Whakatane-Opotiki region, in which a state of emergency had been declared last weekend after 250mm of rain fell in just 48 hours, were starting to ease.

Thousands of people were evacuated from their homes, many fleeing to emergency shelters in town halls, schools and local marae.

Last night nearly 2000 people remained registered as a evacuees, although the number staying in the shelters had dropped as people returned to their homes in the later stages of the week.

Ms Turner said Civil Defence was now shifting into the recovery phase in which the emphasis was on long-term issues such as rehousing people, repairing roads and dealing with insurance and financial security.

The flooding caused major damage to 47 main roads and 34 bridges, including those along several main state highways.

Conservative estimates put the cost of clearing, cleaning and repairing those roads and bridges at $6 million.

While many homes remain underwater, especially in the Rangitaiki Plains area, many others are undergoing a major assessment and cleanup process.

Of the 200 homes that have been inspected, 112 have been deemed unsafe to return to at this stage.

Further inspections are expected to continue throughout the weekend as will repair work on the Rangitaiki River stopbank breach.

All but four schools in the area are expected to reopen on Monday.