Civil Defence rejects PM's storm response criticism

Some electricity is still cut following heavy snow in Canterbury. Picture / Otago Daily Times.

Canterbury Civil Defence staff have rejected claims that declaring a state of emergency would have made any difference to how local authorities responded to the snow storms in the region last week.

Prime Minister Helen Clark said today that help would have got to the storm and snow-battered south faster if a state of emergency had been declared.

Miss Clark, speaking on TV One's Breakfast, said if a state of emergency were declared, assistance would have been triggered immediately.

"They (Canterbury Civil Defence) did not declare a state of emergency, they were managing it as they saw fit. Now I could see there were some issues and central government help really did need to be picked up and frankly I think the military offer could have been picked up a couple of days earlier."

Canterbury Civil Defence emergency management group planner Jon Mitchell said declaring a state of emergency would not have made any difference to how the local authorities responded and in particular to how quickly electricity was re-established.

Once the heavy snow warning had been issued for the region, Civil Defence staff and local agency groups were in constant contact with Civil Defence Ministry staff who were given updates and advised on appropriate action to take, he said.

Local authorities had enough scope for taking action without such a declaration, he said.

Mr Mitchell said a state of emergency was "not necessary" in the circumstances.

"The Civil Defence Emergency Act provides a framework for a significant co-ordinated response without a declaration of emergency."

It was simply not realistic to think a state of emergency declaration would have made a significant difference, nor would it have meant electricity supplies were reconnected faster - although it may have made some difference to clearer communications, he said.

"But as far as the outcomes goes, there would have been no significant difference."

Civil Defence Ministry staff, who were well briefed on the situation, had also advised a declaration was not necessary, he said.

Mr Mitchell said he was happy with Civil Defence Minister Rick Barker's handling and involvement during the worst of the snow storms.

Ms Clark also refused to accept that Civil Defence Minister Rick Barker was slow off the mark by visiting the affected area on Thursday, six days into the big freeze which left many isolated and without electricity.

"I don't accept that criticism at all," she said, adding that the Army at Burnham in Christchurch had been on stand-by but were not immediately called on.

On Wednesday Defence Minister Phil Goff authorised military assistance after a call for help from Civil Defence co-ordinators worried about more icy weather forecast to hit the South Island again last weekend.

Defence Force personnel helped by transporting generators and fuel, stock feed and mountain radios around snowbound Canterbury.

Soldiers and vehicles from the Burnham-based 3rd Logistics Battalion were joined by two RNZAF Iroquois helicopters delivering urgently needed supplies to outlying homesteads and high country stations.

Power cuts

In the Ashburton area about 1000 households were still without power over night.

It was expected - apart for some remote and badly damaged areas - the majority of the rural distribution network would be operational today.

A major push to reach those households on "side spur lines" or with lines down on their property would be made by power line crews over the next few days.

However it was likely to be well in to next week before power was restored to some of these properties.

Alpine Energy said it hoped to have power restored to all of South Canterbury within a week.

The company told Timaru Civil Defence this morning a further influx of lines staff had brought the total working on power restoration throughout the district to 140.

Chief executive Greg Skelton said there was much work to be done, but the nature of the work had shifted slightly.

"For example we have 15 poles down in one area, and one customer at the end."

Timaru Civil Defence said the lack of snow and the lifting of an adverse weather advisory had meant the situation was now well under control in the district.

Civil Defence staff reported that all but a couple of households in Seadown now had power restored.

In the wider district there were still about 800 customers waiting for power to be restored.

The Timaru District Council appealed to residents to continue to conserve water.

All roadways in the district are open and unrestricted.

- NZPA