Historical emergencies

Flooding and Severe Weather is affecting parts of the Wellington Region - Kapiti Coast, Wairarapa and Lower Hutt. See http://getprepared.org.nz/status for details.

Wind Storm at Mt Maunganui A patch of strong wind has impacted multiple properties in the Mt Maunganui area. Fire Service are responding and the Western Operating Area has activated to provide Welfare support if required.

Flooding and Severe Weather is affecting parts of the Wellington Region. While the worst of the weather may be over, transport to, within and from these parts is affected. For more information go to getprepared.nz/status

The situation on the Chatham Islands is generally improving with wild weather starting to ease as forecast. Ex-tropical cyclone Pam continues to move away to the south east of the Chatham Islands, and the MetService has now lifted its weather advisory for the Islands. However, winds and seas remain high. Combined waves of around 7 to 8 metres are still possible about southern coasts until late this afternoon and wave heights will only ease gradually this evening and during Friday. There is major damage to wharves at Kaingaroa and at Flower Pot (Pitt Island). Other damage on the Islands from Cycle Pam appears to be minor. Approximately 50 people south of Waitangi are without power for 2-3 days. The last remaining wildfire on the Islands remains contained. The declared state of local emergency will be reassessed this afternoon, with a view to terminating if no longer required.

A state of local emergency is still in place in the Chatham Islands. Cyclone Pam remains an intense extra-tropical low, but will gradually move southeast away from the Islands over the next 48 hours. The National Crisis Management Centre stood down at 8pm on Tuesday 17 March, however the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management is continuing to monitor the situation and will coordinate assistance.

The current weather situation in Buller has subsided and surface flooding is dropping. However, further heavy rainfall is forecast for the Buller in the early hours of tomorrow morning. Buller Civil Defence encourages residents to make provisions and to prepare themselves as much as possible.

Mayor Len Brown says Auckland Council is cooperating closely with Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) on its Queensland fruit fly operation in central Auckland. The council is making resources available to MPI to assist with the operation. Len Brown urges all residents in the affected zones, and people moving in and out of the zones, to be vigilant and follow MPI guidelines. **Ministry for Primary Industries confirms fourth fruit fly find in controlled area** The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has confirmed a fourth fruit fly in Grey Lynn and believes it to be part of the same localised population as previous detections. A single male Queensland fruit fly was found on Sunday (22 February) in a trap inside the existing Controlled Area. There are no changes to the Controlled Area as a result of the find at this stage, says MPI Chief Operations Officer, Andrew Coleman. "We have been expecting to find more flies, so the latest detection is no surprise, and confirms that the trapping systems continues to be successful." "The find was close to the original detections, so we believe the fly is likely to be part of the same population." MPI has so far trapped three male fruit flies. A single unmated female was located at a residential property on Friday. MPI and its response partners, including GIA signatories KVH and PipfruitNZ, have moved quickly to respond to the fruit fly threat. MPI currently has more than 180 staff working in the field on the response. The response involves the use of movement controls, traps, public awareness and treatment. Stricter controls continue to be applied at New Zealand’s borders. During the weekend, ground staff laid bait in Zone A of the Controlled Area. It expects to lay bait in the rest of the area today. Ground-based spraying has also been completed under the fruiting trees where positive finds have been made. "We continue to appreciate the outstanding public support we have received for our movement controls," says Mr Coleman. "We have every confidence that our measures will effectively eradicate this population." **Further background about the Controlled Area Notice** All whole fresh fruit and vegetables (except for leafy vegetables and root vegetables) cannot be moved outside of the wider Controlled Area. Within the wider Controlled Area there is a smaller central Zone A (which takes in a circle 200 metres out from the initial find), and whole fruit and vegetables cannot be moved outside of this Zone at all. Residents within Zone A are asked to dispose of all store-bought fruit and vegetable waste in the special disposal bins that have been provided by MPI. Zone A residents are asked to leave any home-grown fallen fruit on the ground in their garden for inspection by MPI. Do not put home-grown produce in your MPI disposal bin. Zone B residents can continue to dispose of all fruit and vegetables in the MPI disposal bins which are distributed at convenient locations around the area. Fruit and vegetables can continue to be purchased and transported from outside the Controlled Area into the Controlled Area.

Mayor Len Brown says Auckland Council is cooperating closely with Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) on its Queensland fruit fly operation in central Auckland. The council is making resources available to MPI to assist with the operation. Len Brown urges all residents in the affected zones, and people moving in and out of the zones, to be vigilant and follow MPI guidelines. **Ministry for Primary Industries confirms fourth fruit fly find in controlled area** The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has confirmed a fourth fruit fly in Grey Lynn and believes it to be part of the same localised population as previous detections. A single male Queensland fruit fly was found on Sunday (22 February) in a trap inside the existing Controlled Area. There are no changes to the Controlled Area as a result of the find at this stage, says MPI Chief Operations Officer, Andrew Coleman. "We have been expecting to find more flies, so the latest detection is no surprise, and confirms that the trapping systems continues to be successful." "The find was close to the original detections, so we believe the fly is likely to be part of the same population." MPI has so far trapped three male fruit flies. A single unmated female was located at a residential property on Friday. MPI and its response partners, including GIA signatories KVH and PipfruitNZ, have moved quickly to respond to the fruit fly threat. MPI currently has more than 180 staff working in the field on the response. The response involves the use of movement controls, traps, public awareness and treatment. Stricter controls continue to be applied at New Zealand’s borders. During the weekend, ground staff laid bait in Zone A of the Controlled Area. It expects to lay bait in the rest of the area today. Ground-based spraying has also been completed under the fruiting trees where positive finds have been made. "We continue to appreciate the outstanding public support we have received for our movement controls," says Mr Coleman. "We have every confidence that our measures will effectively eradicate this population." **Further background about the Controlled Area Notice** All whole fresh fruit and vegetables (except for leafy vegetables and root vegetables) cannot be moved outside of the wider Controlled Area. Within the wider Controlled Area there is a smaller central Zone A (which takes in a circle 200 metres out from the initial find), and whole fruit and vegetables cannot be moved outside of this Zone at all. Residents within Zone A are asked to dispose of all store-bought fruit and vegetable waste in the special disposal bins that have been provided by MPI. Zone A residents are asked to leave any home-grown fallen fruit on the ground in their garden for inspection by MPI. Do not put home-grown produce in your MPI disposal bin. Zone B residents can continue to dispose of all fruit and vegetables in the MPI disposal bins which are distributed at convenient locations around the area. Fruit and vegetables can continue to be purchased and transported from outside the Controlled Area into the Controlled Area.

The Ministry for Primary Industries is taking urgent action to eradicate the fruit fly population discovered in Auckland and is confident of success given the resources and expertise at its disposal. See more details below.

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) confirms that an isolated population of the Queensland fruit fly has been found in the Auckland suburb of Grey Lynn.