Three hundred more residents forced to flee flood

1.25pm

UPDATE - About 300 more people have evacuated their homes in the Rangitikei district as rain continues to fall and fears grow of a flood on a scale that only occurs once every 100 years.

Horizons Regional Council spokeswoman Jacqui Ferrel said the Army and Airforce were currently helping 300 people from the small town of Tangimoana near the mouth of the Rangitikei River.

"We've advised the Manawatu District Council to evacuate that area, which is at sea level, and they have moved to act on that," she told NZPA.

Mrs Ferrel said rain was continuing to fall in the catchment areas of the Rangitikei River and it was now just half a metre below bursting its banks.

"We are predicting between a 50 and a 100-year flood but that particular river scheme is only geared up for a 50-year flood... The flood scheme is not designed to cope with that volume of water."

She said the river was likely to peak about 2pm today.

In addition there was a spring tide tonight which would heighten the flood risk for sea level towns such as Tangimoana, which is 23km southwest of Bulls.

Mrs Ferrel said the Manawatu River would also peak this afternoon, but was not likely to spill its banks.

However a container from a truck that had rolled on the Saddle Rd in the Manawatu and floated down the Manawatu River was causing some headaches.

"It may hit our Moutua floodgates. We've never dealt with that situation before."

Staff had also been unable to reach a train that had derailed early this morning at Oringi, 9km southwest of Dannevirke.

Meanwhile an Air Force helicopter has had to rescue seven families from their cut off homes.

Shortly before midday the helicopter lifted four families off the roofs of their houses at Mangamahu, near Wanganui.

A short time later three families were airlifted from their homes that were also completely cut off by flood waters.

High winds and heavy rain lashed the North Island and Marlborough Sounds overnight closing roads and schools, disrupting ferry and air travel and forcing the evacuation of about 200 people from their homes.

One man was missing after the 40ft boat he was in ran into trouble in heavy seas in the Marlborough Sounds last night. Three of the four people on the boat were rescued.

The massive storm, which brought winds of up to 150km/h, felled trees, tore off roofs and cut power across the North Island late yesterday and overnight.

In the Manawatu towns of Marton and Feilding local officials declared a state of civil emergency as flooding forced up to 200 residents to be evacuated.

Yesterday 10m swells in Cook Strait caused the interisland ferry Arahura to pitch violently tipping a truck on the vehicle deck on to its side damaging a van and three other vehicles.

The cancellation of ferry services from late yesterday left hundreds of people stranded.

However some passengers on the Arahura sailing when the truck tipped were critical of Tranz Rail's decision to sail.

Moana Hillman from Bulls, said she would never travel on the ferry again.

Roger Foley said conditions were wild and spectacular, with 5-10m swells and waves breaking over the bow.

"We are going up and down enough to change the pressure in the rooms and make your ears click. It feels like we are climbing up a mountain at the moment," he said yesterday.

However Interisland line spokesman Peter Monk today told National Radio that when the Arahura departed Picton conditions were still alright for sailing. It was only after they departed that conditions dramatically worsened.

In Auckland this morning, the Fire Service's Northern Communication Centre, which covers the North Island from Turangi northwards, reported that the situation in the region had settled down.

Shift manager Jan Wills said most of the cases being dealt with involved trees and electricity lines brought down by high winds.

She was not aware of any area in the region being much more badly affected than any other.

However, the centre was taking overflow calls from the Wellington-based Central Communication Centre, which covers the bottom half of the North Island.

"In Auckland we took 188 calls from about 7pm to 6am and currently we're not that busy at all," she said.

"We're taking overflow calls from Wellington, who are extremely busy. They took 944 calls overnight."

- NZPA

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