Multiple trees have come down and thousands of Rotorua residents remain without power after Cyclone Gabrielle pummelled the region overnight.
A state of national emergency has been declared in response to what was described as an unprecedented weather event.
State Highway 35 between Ōpōtiki and Hicks Bay on the Bay of Plenty side was opened for essential travel only at 1.45pm but a Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency spokesperson said caution was advised.
According to Unison’s website, there were still 21 outages in the Rotorua area, with 840 customers definitely without power and the remaining 1100 or more customers who had been impacted overnight now having their power partially restored.
Unison relationship manager Danny Gough said there was very slow progress given the conditions and damage to the network.
”Our crews will continue to work safely and diligently but it could be several days before we get all power restored.”
Given Gabrielle had moved towards Hawke’s Bay - where Unison’s head office was - Gough said they were experiencing significant communications and internet issues, which were causing delays.
Meanwhile, Rotorua Lakes Council said the high winds overnight had caused trees to fall around the district and crews were out responding.
The council said if you have to drive on the roads, do so with extreme caution as there was likely to be debris, treefalls, slips, washouts and surface flooding around the district.
Although trees have toppled overnight in Kuirau Park, the council’s active and engaged communities manager, Rob Pitkethley, said there were no plans to close the park to the public.
”Council has received multiple tree reports across the district including those in Kuirau Park. Work is under way on many urgent jobs while others are being assessed by council and contractors and will be scheduled for treatment based on potential risk.”
Pitkethley said their urban forester had walked through Kuirau Park and while there were multiple trees down and one tree taped off, there was no need to close the entire park.
”As with any areas where trees are down, the council advises the public to keep clear of these until they can be cleared.”
According to MetService data, last night’s wind gusts started to pick up about 9pm when wind speed shot up to 80km/h. It reached a peak wind gust at 11pm of 85km/h.
It dropped to about 50km/h after midnight and was around 17km/h at first light this morning.
Okere Falls resident Sara Mines said her family were trapped at home today with no power, no water and not able to get into Rotorua because Maniatutu Rd had been closed.
She said she and her two secondary school-aged boys were pretending they were camping.
Image 1 of 16: Government Gardens.
”The boys thought it was great to have the day off until they realised we’ve got no internet and they’ve got no data.”
She said her husband, Paul, was out trying to fix the problem with the water pump, which had prevented the family from getting water since earlier last night. She said their water tank was fed by a pump that was about 2km from their home, and the heavy rain and winds must have caused a slip or issue somewhere that stopped it working.
”Paul is walking the line to see where the damage is so we can’t get any water until he figures out a way to fix it.”
One saviour has been a $40 solar panel the Mines bought just before Christmas to take camping, which was keeping their phones charged and providing power when needed. ”It’s like we’re camping again.”
Power was restored about 12.30pm.
Trees have also come down on Sala St in Rotorua, forcing the closure of the road at both ends, near the entrance to Scion and the Rotorua cemetery at the other end.
Two trees tumbled down around Reni Clarke’s whānau home overnight - with one “hanging by a thread” across wires immediately outside the property of the long-time Sala St residents.
Meanwhile, a Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokeswoman said they were alerted at 3.02am to a tree down on a house in Rotorua.
One crew responded to the call to assist the homeowner. The spokeswoman was unable to give specific details of where it happened.
Whakarewarewa School principal Jackie Meha posted on the school’s Facebook page this morning that the school would be closed today because a power pole in the area had fallen overnight and the school had no power. There is no timeframe yet on when the road will reopen or when power will be restored.
Otonga Primary School has been closed today because of fallen trees around the school grounds, including one which has been uprooted.
Principal Gareth Cunliffe said in a post on the school’s Facebook page this morning it was extremely wet underfoot and there was concern more trees could fall.
“A safety assessment will be done of the site. This decision is made with the safety of students, their family members and our staff in mind.”
Glenholme School and Aorangi School have also been closed today.
Open with caution:
Ōpōtiki Civil Defence spent the morning assessing any damage or issues along the coast.
Ōpōtiki controller Gerard McCormack said there was “minimal damage” and Waka Kotahi was finalising plans to reopen State Highway 35 between Ōpōtiki and Whangaparaoa.
”We don’t have any particular concerns with flooding at this point, although we can expect ongoing heavy rain and wind, but a bit more like a normal heavy weather pattern from here.
”We’ll have a busy few days on clean-up and returning to normal but we’ll also be offering support where we can to our neighbours and other parts of NZ,” McCormack said.
Ōpōtiki District Council declared a state of emergency early on Monday and mayor David Moore said this allowed them to use daylight hours to prepare.
”Things could have been so much worse for us and we can see that in other places in the country – we are feeling for them right now.”
Some bus services across the region are cancelled and all routes will have possible disruptions today, Bay of Plenty Regional Council public transport operations manager Chris Brewer said.
There are eight cancelled bus services today. This included Route 15 Murupara via Kaingaroa, Route 85 from Waihi to Katikati, Route 101 Whakatāne to Tauranga, Route 102 from Rotorua to Tauranga, Route 104 from Murupara to Rotorua, Route 105 from Tauranga to Rotorua, Route 143a from Whakatāne to Tauranga, and Route 150 from Pōtaka to Ōpōtiki.
Route 122 from Whakatāne to Ōhope has been shortened and the timetable will be impacted.
Brewer said all schools using the regional council buses decided to close today and these bus services were not running. Baybus would continue to operate other bus services unless the health and safety of passengers and staff was compromised.
Please be prepared for changes at short notice.
For the latest service information, visit Transit App or www.baybus.co.nz.
Bay of Plenty Civil Defence has said the region was now past the peak of what it was expecting before 2am today and there were so far no reports of “significant inundation”, however, it said on its Facebook page there were impacts across the region with power outages, trees down and landslips.
Bay of Plenty CDEM group public information manager Lisa Glass said there were people in emergency centres and marae overnight.
Glass said loud emergency phone alerts were sent out to coastal communities Waihī, Maketū and Pukehina as staff were “worried” as the tide got “super high”.
She said a number of those people decided to evacuate and there were people in emergency centres across the region overnight, and many marae welcomed people in.
There were also some door-to-door evacuations for properties in Little Waihī, as well as the evacuations earlier yesterday in Whakatāne and Ōpōtiki.
She said the “good news” was that a mass emergency evacuation at high tide was not needed, which was what staff were trying to avoid.
She said staff did not know what, if any, effect the high tides and coastal inundation had on properties.
“That’s something we are keen to find out as soon as council teams can get out and about.”
She said many trees were down which caused widespread power outages which could take a while to get back on. She said the main message this morning was to take “extreme care” on the roads and have patience if you don’t have power.
”We are still not through the end of this event and as soon as we have more info for people we will get it to them.”
Rotorua Lakes Council said on its Facebook there were likely be a few trees down in the district as well as potential landslides and debris, but the region was now past the peak of the impacts of the cyclone. It asked residents to report weather-related issues by calling the council on (07) 348 4199 or 111 if it’s an emergency.
”If you have to go on the roads this morning, please drive with extreme caution - our crews will be working as hard as they can to get around to any callout jobs, and we will list these on our website when we receive an update,” the council’s Facebook statement said.
About 20 truck drivers are trapped on the Desert Rd due to fallen trees.
They became trapped shortly before 2am, and could remain trapped for much of the morning.
Truck driver Alan told Newstalk ZB trees had fallen on to the trailers of at least three trucks.
“Nobody’s called through asking for help or anything, and everybody’s staying in their cabs. It’s about the safest place.
“Trees are creaking around us because these are old native trees. Every time you hear a creak, you’re looking up, so we’re staying in our cabs, trying to stay safe.”
The Bay of Plenty was under a regional state of emergency but this morning a national state of emergency has been declared by the Government in response to the impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle.
This covers the six regions across New Zealand which have declared regional states of emergency (including the Bay of Plenty).
This declaration does not affect what was already under way in the Bay, it just allows response teams the ability to move national resources across the country to help those areas that have been most affected.
This declaration enables the Government to support regions that have been most impacted and set priorities across the country for the response.
The 6-month-old infant was discovered critically injured last Sunday.