Update on weather event from Karamea Civil Defence

Hi Everyone,

This is an update from your Karamea Civil Defence co-ordination team on the current weather event.

To recap, MetService has issued a Red Warning for Buller – it means the West Coast and upper South Island could see rainfall similar to that in the weather events of February this year and July 2021.

A Civil Defence Response Centre has been set up in Westport and we are in constant communication with them. Waka Kotahi have advised that there have been no weather-related highway closures in Buller as yet but we expect this to change as the rain sets in.

Metservice Rainfall forecasts that the ranges of Buller and Westland could see 350-550mm of rain up until Thursday evening.

Please delay any non-essential travel and check the Waka Kotahi traffic pages for closures before heading out if a trip is unavoidable. Extreme caution on the roads is essential.

Take care around rivers, particularly at high tides, and areas where we have had slips and flooding in the past.

Rainfall is forecast to peak on Wednesday night, but continues into Thursday and may return over the weekend.

Keep up to date with the latest road conditions at journeys.nzta.govt.nz/traffic

Karamea Civil Defence team will be monitoring river levels and alerting people in flood prone areas, as per our flood protection plan.

For those who have volunteered to help in a Civil Defence emergency, please keep your phones on hand.

If you require urgent event related support, please call either Jacqui Dyer on 0212615566 or Roger Gibson on 0272333782.

Stay safe everyone
Jacqui Dyer
Karamea Civil Defence Co-ordinator