Trampers need to take weather seriously

The Hollyford River in flood. Photo / NZTA

Yet again people have ignored severe weather warnings and headed off into the great outdoors as a storm moved in, risking their lives and the lives of their rescuers.

Over 100 trampers were rescued from the Milford Track and other bush areas yesterday after 700mm of rain fell in just over a day. A deluge of this nature is not only extreme but it's rare even for Fiordland, one of the wettest places on earth.

MetService gave ample warning about this system coming in, mentioning it in their severe weather outlook earlier last week and then issuing warnings towards the end of the working week.

This story) was the lead story at WeatherWatch.co.nz on Friday afternoon from 2pm mentioning half a metre of rain was on the way and I was quoted as saying "While this part of the world is used to receiving torrential rain this is certainly at the higher end. We advise trampers, tourists and locals to be aware of the approaching heavy rain".

I also said "It's a three day assault as the low churns slowly by in the Southern Ocean. A large high to the north and the east of the South Island means the rain bands will slow down even more as they approach the Southern Alps".

Now I appreciate that I'm one small voice but MetService issued the warnings well in advance and other news organisations aired these also.

I also appreciate that some trampers were probably in the bush before warnings were issued, but surely not all 120?

I don't know who exactly is responsible for ensuring people who enter this area are aware of the current risks, I would guess the Department of Conservation, but if anything this again highlights the need for people to take warnings more seriously.

No one was killed or injured, thank goodness, but when big rainstorms are moving in we are better to be cautious. From the looks of those trampers being rescued they didn't look too happy to have spent the night out in those conditions.

Now I understand that rain warnings are issued a dime a dozen down in Fiordland. Even as a weather enthusiast I often yawn when they are issued - after all it is a rainforest. However I do check the rainfall amounts each time... and certainly if I was heading to that area I would read them very carefully. The area is built to easily withstand deluges better than anywhere else in New Zealand but warnings of 400mm in a short period of time is an incredible figure - not only that but in the end 700mm fell by Monday morning with at least another 150 to 200 yet to come. It was this large predicted number, "400mm", which made WeatherWatch run it as the lead story all Friday afternoon along with MetService's high confidence of this event, their warnings issued well in advance to notify the public.

I don't want to sound like a broken record but I get so tired of the small few who adopt the "she'll be right mate" attitude. Too many people die in weather related events in this country and just about every single one of them can be avoided if you just listen to the warnings.

A few weeks ago around Easter a man emailed me to ask whether it was going to rain in Fiordland as he wanted to go tramping that weekend. I told him there was the "possibility" of some heavy rain - but probably not rain warning criteria, as MetService didn't seem confident of warnings being issued. Despite the "low" risk he decided it's better to be safe than sorry and eventually settled on the Tasman National Park...where little rain was expected. If only more people were like him.

Ok, rant over.