Historical emergencies

SEVERE WEATHER WARNING. ISSUED BY MetService AT 6:14 pm 17-Dec-2014 Heavy rain for the northeast of the North Island and also northwest Nelson A moist northeasterly flow over the North Island today is bringing a period of heavy rain to the northeast of the North Island. The heaviest falls are expected about the Bay of Plenty and northern Gisborne, where a further 70 to 110mm could accumulate in a 6 to 9 hour period this evening and tonight, (this is on top of the rain which has already fallen during the day). Meanwhile, periods of heavy rain are expected to continue in northwest Nelson through to Thursday morning where a further 80mm could accumulate about the ranges. Heavy rain about the Coromandel Peninsula should ease early this evening, but another 20 to 40mm could accumulate there. People are advised that streams and rivers are likely to rise rapidly, and heavy rain could cause surface flooding, slips and make driving hazardous. HEAVY RAIN WARNING AREA/S AFFECTED Coromandel Peninsula FORECAST Heavy rain is expected to ease early this evening, but south of Whangamata another 20 to 40mm could accumulate between 6pm and 8pm. Peak intensities of around 20mm per hour are possible with thunderstorms. AREA/S AFFECTED Bay of Plenty west of Kawerau FORECAST Heavy rain is expected to ease this evening. In the 4 hours from 6pm to 10pm Wednesday, expect a further 40 to 80mm to accumulate on top of what has alreday fallen. Peak intensities of around 25mm per hour are possible with thunderstorms. AREA/S AFFECTED Remainder of Bay of Plenty (from Kawerau eastwards) and also Gisborne north of Ruatoria FORECAST Further heavy rain is expected this evening, then ease early Thursday morning. In the 8 hours from 6pm Wednesday to 2am Thursday, expect another 70 to 110mm to accumulate on top of what has already fallen. Peak intensities of around 25-30mm per hour are possible with thunderstorms.

NOT TO BE BROADCAST AFTER 09:00pm Wednesday 17-Dec-2014

MetService have advised that thunderstorms may form in Auckland. The highest risk period is between 3pm - 7pm today, with stronger thunderstorms more likely in southern parts of the region. Where thunderstorms form, surface flooding is likely and localised flooding of streams.

SEVERE WEATHER WARNING A front preceded by strong northeasterlies moves south over the North Island today (Wednesday 17 December), bringing a period of heavy rain to the northeast of the North Island. The heaviest falls are expected about the Coromandel Peninsula, Bay of Plenty and northern Gisborne.

SEVERE WEATHER WARNING. ISSUED BY MetService AT 9:25 pm 18-Oct-2014 Period of heavy rain for the eastern Bay of Plenty A front over northern New Zealand is expected to move slowly eastwards across the North Island overnight Saturday and during Sunday morning and become slow moving over East Cape Sunday afternoon. A moist northwest flow ahead of this front is expected to bring a period of heavy rain to the eastern Bay of Plenty. 80 to 100mm of rain could accumulate in the eastern Bay of Plenty in an 18 hour period from midnight Saturday. The frontal rainband should weaken Sunday evening. People are advised that this rain could make rivers and stream rise quickly, cause slips and surface flooding and make driving hazardous. HEAVY RAIN WARNING AREA/S AFFECTED Bay of Plenty east of Whakatane FORECAST Rain is expected to become heavy overnight Saturday. In the 18 hours from midnight Saturday to 6pm Sunday, 80 to 100mm of rain is likely. Heaviest rain rates could reach 15 to 20mm per hour at times. NEXT SEVERE WEATHER WARNING WILL BE ISSUED AT OR BEFORE 9:00 am Sunday 19-Oct-2014

SEVERE WEATHER WARNING. ISSUED BY MetService AT 7:36 pm 19-Oct-2014 Heavy rain about the ranges of eastern Bay of Plenty has eased and the warning for this area is lifted The rain has eased over the ranges of eastern Bay of Plenty and the warning for this area is lifted. WARNINGS NO LONGER IN FORCE HEAVY RAIN WARNINGS HAVE BEEN LIFTED FOR: Bay of Plenty ranges east of Whakatane

Vector has advised power to most customers has been restored. Customers are still being asked to conserve energy as there are two more cables to bring into service over this afternoon and evening. There may be some areas in Orakei, St Heliers and Remuera that may have power interrupted during the peak demand period this evening. Vector strongly recommends that people continue to conserve power in affected areas. To reduce the load on the network Vector are limiting the power to hot water cylinders, you may experience a lower temperature than normal. The Auckland Emergency Coordination Centre remains activated and is monitoring the situation while the network is operating by being back fed.

Vector has advised power to most customers was restored overnight. This morning 324 customers are without power and Vector expect, all going well, to have these reconnected today. Currently large parts of the network are reliant on back feeding, so intermittent outages may occur depending on demand. Vector strongly recommends that people continue to conserve power in affected areas. NZTA note intersections are operational and they are working on three in Remuera. Due to power restoration, Spark only have 2 sites presently down while Vodafone has 3 down. Some of the sites need to be reconnected on site and engineers are working on reconnection. Healthcare facilities are all operational running on mains power. As some areas of Auckland continue to wait for power to be restored, there are health concerns over food premises and residents using food that may be spoiled. The Auckland Emergency Coordination Centre remains activated while some locations are still without power and is closely monitoring the situation while the network is operating by being back fed.

The Auckland Emergency Coordination Centre remains activated in response to power outages in parts of Auckland. Vector advise that approximately 18,000 customers remain without power this morning. Customers are mainly located in parts of Remuera, Saint Johns/Meadowbank, Mount Wellington, Sylvia Park and a small part of St Heliers. Vector request that customers in the east Auckland isthmus limit power usage so that more customers can be reconnected with back feeding. Vector worked through the night on affected cables and will have more certainty of actual restoration times later today. Nine intersections remain without power across Auckland, four of these are presently manned by NZ Police for traffic control. Bus and rail services are running without disruption. A number of cell sites are still down due to the power outage. Spark has 17 cell sites down as of 0900 hours but expect the majority of these to be running by 1300 hours. Vodafone have 19 cell sites down. All hospitals are now on mains power. St John are working with individuals in the affected area that rely on medical alarms. Health services also have coordinated residential care teams working in affected areas to help vulnerable persons. As some areas of Auckland continue to wait for power to be restored, there are health concerns over food premises and residents using food that may be spoiled. Westerly winds are expected to be gusty in Auckland later today. Between 11am and 6pm, MetService expect that winds in exposed parts of the region could gust up to 100 km/hr. These winds are not expected to cause widespread damage but very localised power outages and trees down could occur during the afternoon.

Vector wishes to advise that crews have made good progress with restoring affected customers this afternoon. This brings the total number of customers out down to 39,600, down from the 85,000 out at the height of the substation fire this morning. Suburbs still affected by the damaged cables are Sylvia Park, Remuera, Mt Wellington, St Johns, Orakei and St Heliers - these customers are expected to be without power until Monday evening. Crews will continue to work Sunday night and throughout Monday in order to get customers restored as soon as possible. Major services such as water, sewerage and telecommunications are being kept operational by generators in affected areas. Traffic congestion and delays are expected in affected areas for Monday morning. Public transport is operating as normal but there are some delays to bus services. Generators have been provided for the traffic lights at key intersections and Police and Council contractors will be assisting to direct traffic where required.

Vector advises that up to 85,000 customers are without power in parts of central Auckland from Greenlane to Otahuhu. Affected customers could be without power for 24 - 48 hours particularly in the suburbs of St Johns, Remuera, Sylvia Park and Mt Wellington. Vector advise that medically dependent or vulnerable customers should make alternative arrangements.

FLOODING IN ROTORUA: FLOODING HAS OCCURED IN A NUMBER OF AREAS OF ROTORUA AS A RESULT OF THE SEVERE WEATHER OVERNIGHT.

MetService have issued a Severe Weather Warning for the Bay of Plenty. For the Coromandel Peninsula and Bay of Plenty west of Rotorua Southwesterlies are expected to rise to severe gale for a time from late afternoon until late tonight. Gusts of 120km/h are possible in exposed places, especially about just east of the Coromandel and Kaimai Ranges.

In 16hrs from 8am this morning 120-180mm in the southern part of Gisborne District.

The Mayor of Wanganui declared a local state of emergency in Wanganui in response to persistent heavy rain and high river levels.

Potential Threat to New Zealand advisory for North Cape, Auckland West, East Cape, Gisborne, Auckland East, New Plymouth, Wellington.

Volcanic activity at Mt Tongariro. As GNS Science reports that the current status of Mount Tongariro is likely to remain indefinitely, with gas and steam emission continuing to be a feature for several years, this will be the last update published on the MCDEM website until the situation changes.

Lyttelton earthquake. The National Crisis Management Centre (NCMC) was activated in response to the Lyttelton quake event. The NCMC stood down at 7:00pm on Friday 23 December 2011.

Nelson Flooding

Potential tsunami threat to New Zealand

#Tsunami warning has been cancelled 0900, 7 July 2011 A tsunami was confirmed from the earthquake in the Kermadec Islands. Advice from GNS Science is that the tsunami does not represent a threat to New Zealand. However, they expect that there will be unusually strong tidal surges and currents. For the next 24 hours people should exercise caution and discretion before entering the water or going out in small boats in all parts of New Zealand.

Central Hawke’s Bay District Council declared in response to flooding and landslips in the Hawke’s Bay area.

A magnitude 6.3 earthquake occurred at 1251 hours on Tuesday 22 February 2011 approximately 10 km south- east of Christchurch causing significant damage to a number of buildings and major disruption to the Canterbury region. 181 confirmed fatalities were recorded as a direct result of the earthquake. A state of national emergency was declared.

A magnitude 7.1 earthquake occurred at 04:35 hours on Saturday 4th September 2010 approximately 30 km west of Christchurch causing damage to a number of buildings and major disruption to the Canterbury region. No fatalities were recorded as a direct result of the earthquake.

Landlsides led to the evacuation of the village of Waihi, Lake Taupo plus 2-3 houses not in village.

Declaration made to assist police in evacuating approx. 40 people in Picton.

A magnitude 6.8 earthquake occurred at 20:55 hours on Thursday 20 December approximately 50 km south-east of Gisborne at a depth of approximately 40 km with a number of after shocks. The earthquake caused damage to some buildings and minor disruption to power supply. No deaths or significant injuries occurred. Most damage occurred in the Gisborne City central business district (CBD).

On Monday 30 July 2007, over 90mm of rain fell in the Milton area. A Civil Defence emergency was declared for the Bruce Ward, particularly the Milton Township, at 8.40pm on Monday 30 July. The declaration was lifted at 9.00am on the morning of Tuesday 31 July after rain subsided and the recovery structure was in place.

The Far North District Council Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) was activated at 0952 hours on 10 July and stood down at 1230 hours on Friday 13 July. A Local State of Emergency was declared by Her Worship the Mayor, Yvonne Sharp, at 1615 hours on 10 July. The state of emergency was terminated at 1500 hours on Friday 13 July 2007.

On the 5th July a series of tornadoes struck Taranaki causing widespread damage to dwellings and properties. A declaration of local emergency was declared by the Taranaki CDEM Group on Thursday evening 5th July, 2007, and the EOC was activated. The declaration was lifted on Saturday 7th July 2007 after the 9am briefing and recovery coordination was in place

Declared at 1719 only for purpose of evacuation of people in lower Whangeahu valley. Enforcement powers ware required as some people resisted evacuation and the local Controller wanted all at risk to be evacuated before dark- river was still rising and flooding expected. Air force helicopter supported evacuations. Declaration lifted following morning at 0851.

Houses destroyed & damaged in Tauranga due to landslips. Evacuations

Declared at 1843 for Edgecumbe-Tarawera Ward. Matata township significant damage due to mudslides and debris flows down mountain. 27 homes destroyed, 87 damaged. Local roads, SH2 & rail extensively damaged. Evacuations.

Declared at 2147 for Whakatane urban area. Declaration extended due to concern about further adverse weather forecasts. Widespread road, infrastructure water, power, sewage disruptions throughout district, impacting on mainly Whakatane and Edgecumbe urban areas, vast rural areas due to Whakatane river breaching stop banks (in exces of 15,000ha farmland inundated). About 215 houses uninhabitable, more that 1300 evacuations. One death due to tree falling on motorist. Landslips aggravated by earthquake swarm (more than 100 shallow earthquakes) around Lake Rotoehu coinciding with the flood impact period. MCDEM appointed Recovery Facilitator.

Declared at 1700 for Waiotahi Ward. One death at Ohiwa Beach due to landslip. Numerous road closures due to flooding, houses evacuated due to deemed unsafe (mainly landslip threat). 10 houses uninhabitable. About 30 persons evacuated. Widespread water and power disruptions.

Declared for whole region at 2000 hrs, effectively ending the Rangitikei and Manawatu declarations made the previous morning. (See Rangitikei & Manawatu District declarations above). Similar conditions in Horowhenua District, although no declaration was made earlier by that District. Tararua, Ruapehu & Wanganui Districts also affected. Summary on event: Intense rainfall and gale force winds from 15-23 February have affected the lower North Island and top of the South Island with extensive and severe flooding and some wind damage. The river peak of the Manawatu River was the second largest on record, the largest being recorded in 1902. The peak of the Rangitikei was the third largest on record since 1897. Estimated to be NZ’s largest disaster in 20 years. More than a thousand evacuees. Approx 500 houses damaged. 4 bridges destroyed, 21 bridges seriously damaged. Widespread roads, rail closure, widespread power & phone outages. Stock losses estimated at 1300.

Declared at 1337 hrs for Picton Ward. About 1000 people had to be evacuated in fear of a break in the Burns Dam (a reservoir above the town) due to high inflow capacities and possible landslips into the reservoir. Heavy flooding in Alexandra Holiday Park area. Declaration ended when engineers declared the dam to be safe.

Declared for Patea Ward (Waitotara Township and Waitotara Valley) at 1100 hrs due to severe flooding. Approximately 100 residents had to be evacuated. No reticulated water supply, sewerage tanks had to be pumped. Telephones & power also out.

Declared at 0310 hrs for District due to severe flooding. 100 year event in certain areas. Defence resources required. Approximately 350 evacuees. Feilding isolated, many bridges out. Widespread road & rail closures. Water & power outages throughout District. Major issue main gas pipeline to Hawkes Bay closed.

Declared at 0255 hrs for District due to severe flooding with significant problems in Marton. 100 year event in certain areas. Approximately 530 people evacuated. Communications (phones) out due to bridges supporting cables collapsing. Water & power outages throughout District. Certain parts of District isolated. Declaration ended on 17 February due to a Regional declaration being made.

Declared at 0030 hrs for District, although damage was limited to Paekakariki town and Paekakariki Hill Road. Damage caused by major flooding and landslips (mud & rubble) at Paekakariki. Several families evacuated, welfare centre established. Health issues due to sewerage problems. Wellington cut off (road and rail) until afternoon of 04.10.2003. Air crash at Waikanae might have complicated response. Duration of declaration mainly due to clean-up process.

Declared at 0800 hrs for Putararu & Tirau Wards. Terminated at 1700 on 23/07. “Weather Bomb” caused extensive flooding. Main problems nil water supply, no power, resulting in a need to regulate water supply & consumption. Several roads closed, Kinleith branch railway line closed. Considerable damage to private properties, no evacuations.

Declared at 0303 hrs for District. Terminated at 1700 on 24/07. “Weather Bomb” caused extensive flooding, power failures, overloading of waste water systems. All flooding between midnight & 1240am. Some areas recorded highest rainfall ever per hour. 200 houses evacuated, 500 evacuees. SH 25 closed. One death- person swept to sea at Waiomu Motor camp. 14500 insurance claims as at 2 August 2002. Estimated at $25 million (highest ever linked to a disaster event in NZ).

Declared at 1918hrs. Terminated at 1300, 3 days later. Flooding in Balclutha (110 people evacuated); Kaitangata (30 people)

Threatening landslip. Declared at 1730hrs. Terminated at 2359, 10 days later. 64 houses evacuated.

Declared at 0830 hours. Terminated at 1700, 2 days later. Flooding in Alexandra (200+ businesses & houses); Roxburgh, Miller’s Flat, Ettrick.

Declared at 0750, lifted at 1310 same day. A slip off the north face of Mt Adams occurred at 0330hrs on 6 October 1999 depositing 10-15 million cu.metres of debris in the Poerua river valley, blocking the river and creating a lake 1.2km long and over 80metres deep. The lake overtopped after 2 days of heavy rain caused the dam to breach at about 0745 on 12 October. 46 people were evacuated as water moved through the valley. Resultant damage was minimal despite aggregation raising the river bed substantially.

Declared at 1147, lifted at 1609 same day. A small number of self evacuations were carried out.

Declared at 1800, lifted 1200 next day. Declaration by Mayor for whole district. Purpose: to assist Emergency Services in evacuating properties. 40 properties & in excess of 200 people evacuated; 2 houses destroyed by fire; 1 person died from heart attack - shock of event; many farm buildings, fences & numbers of livestock were destroyed by fire. No actual costs.