Historical emergencies

On Wednesday 23 March, Tairāwhiti Civil Defence declared a state of emergency for the region due to severe weather. The severe weather caused flooding that required evacuations. Also on 23 March, MetService upgraded their Orange Heavy Rain Warning to a Red Heavy Rain Warning for the region. Rain eased over the course of the week.

Many parts of New Zealand experienced heavy rain and severe gales as Ex Tropical Cyclone Dovi crossed New Zealand. The severe weather caused flooding, slips, downed trees, road closures and disruption to power and cellphone services.

A state of local emergency was declared for the Buller District on 2 February 2022 owing to severe weather expected to cause flooding in Westport.  Westport residents were advised to self-evacuate to friends and family outside Westport if possible and a mandatory evacuation order was issued for parts of Westport on 4 February 2022. The impacts of the severe weather were not as bad as initially expected and evacuated residents were allowed to return home on the morning of 5 February 2022. A second state of local emergency was declared for Buller District on 10 February 2022 owing to further rain impacts on the district. The state of local emergency was lifted at 4:15pm on 21 February and replaced with a notice of local transition period.