Cyclone Gita: water flowing again in Taranaki, power nearly fully restored

Water is flowing again for New Plymouth residents who were left dry after a "freak accident" burst the main water supply during former Cyclone Gita.

A falling tree cut one of the city's main water supply pipes in half on Tuesday as winds in the district blew at up to 140km/h, leaving up to 10,000 residents without running water.

New Plymouth District Council staff fixed the pipe last night.

The pipe has been fixed and water is flowing again. Photo / NPDC

Staff worked through the night at the treatment plant to produce water, gradually refilling pipes and reservoirs.

A council spokesman said they were doing this slowly to control the pressure.

It may take at least a day to fill the pipes and reservoirs.

"After that there will be several days of flushing the pipes clean, so we can make the water safe to drink again.

"In the meantime, we ask everyone to continue to boil water until further notice."

Staff working to fix the broken water pipe in New Plymouth yesterday. Photo / NPDC

All properties in New Plymouth, Bell Block, Waitara, Tikorangi, Lepperton, Onaero and Urenui are on a boil water notice.

While the refill is occurring some areas will still have disruptions to water supply.

Water tankers have been made available in Urenui and Onareo for those who may be without water.

New Plymouth district mayor Neil Holdom said during a news conference yesterday it was the most significant loss of water supply the region had experienced.

"These things happen from time to time. It was a freak accident."

Electricity utility company Powerco had restored power to 90 per cent of the 26,000 customers who lost power during Cyclone Gita.

More than 3000 Powerco customers had their electricity switched back on yesterday.

"There are still pockets without power and we understand how frustrating this is," network operations manager Phil Marsh said.

"We have a huge team working and we will not stop until every customer has power restored.

"Many of the crew are into their third day of work and the positive response of people to our crews has been heartening as they are working as hard as they can."