Westland clean-up: Power restored in Haast, rubbish being retrieved, bridge repairs underway

Westland's heavy rain has caused the Fox River to push through into the closed Fox landfill site, carrying tonnes of rubbish north and out to sea. Photo / Westland District Council

Residents in Haast have finally had their power restored after six days living without, while the local council warns it could take weeks to repair some of the roads.

A major clean-up is underway on the West Coast after heavy rain hammered the region last week, washing away many roads in the district and plunging parts of the region into darkness and isolation.

A council spokesperson said council, contractors and other agencies were working hard to get Westland cleaned up and all roads functioning as soon as possible.

The roads were likely to take between two weeks to one month to repair.

Haast residents who have been living without power for six days were finally reconnected this morning, but there would be further repairs over the next few days.

Westland southern councillor Gray Eatwell said residents were hugely relieved to have power returned and many locals had helped shift tonnes of rocks causing the blockage.

The power system was in quite an inaccessible place which made it difficult to get some machinery up to the top of the gorge to shift it, so manual labour was required, he said.

"It's been an absolute marathon to get the power back on between all of the parties involved ...

"There was a lot of physical labour to get it back and running, so they just got stuck in and did it."

He said it was a sign of some normality starting to return.

The New Zealand Transport Agency was continuing to work on the bridge access across the Franz Josef river after the storm washed away the Waiho River bridge, cutting off Okarito.

Other roads would take between two weeks to one month to repair, she said.

A temporary solution was also being worked on to stop rubbish from an Old Fox Glacier landfill floating into the Fox River and north into the sea. The severe rainfall had caused the river to push through approximately 40m of bush, sweeping the litter into the sea.

Locals have spending the past couple of days picking up everything from bits of plastic to old car tyres as officials assess the severity of the situation.

Okarito residents told the Herald on Sunday rubbish was washing up along at least 100km of coastline between there and Haast after last week's storm.

Local resident Paula Sheridan said as far as she knew the dump site at the Fox River was still not contained and more rubbish was flowing into the river and the sea.

"The river itself is still full of rubbish that will come down in the latest rain from last night and today. Here in Okarito as the tide is receding we are about to go out and collect more - here it is predominantly very small bits of shredded plastic bags and bits - unfortunately the likes of which may be appealing to marine life and birds so while small is still crucial to contain."

The district council was working with the West Coast Regional Council, DOC and other agencies to work out "the significant issue" of how to get rid of the rubbish.

"Council has engaged contractors to undertake work on site to prevent further rubbish being exposed and taken downstream. This is a temporary fix and will require long-term works to make the site safe," a council spokeswoman said.

Helicopters are being used to access inaccessible sites and a large army of volunteers are helping collect the rubbish strewn across the coastline.