Huge repair task left as storm clears

Press, 5 December 1979, Page 1

Huge repair task left as storm clears

Hillsides in the Mount Cook area were still moving in the wake of the week-end’s devastating storm but the state of emergency was lifted at 2.15 p.m. yesterday. The chief ranger at Mount Cook National Park headquarters (Mr B. W. Thomas) said the weather had cleared in the area.

Water and power supplies and communications had been restored and all residents whose properties had been threatened by a huge landslide in the Black Birch Stream had returned to their homes. A bulldozer had worked throughout the night to divert water which had been eroding the stopbanks and ranger patrols

had maintained a 24-hour watch on the village. Ministry of Works and Development repair gangs carved an access way yesterday for emergency vehicles on the PukakiHermitage State highway, which bore the brunt of the storm. The road, which was reopened at midday, was cut in several places by raging floodwaters which left extensive areas where the shoulders had broken away, exposing vertical banks. The road will be closed at night in the interests of safety and is likely to remain closed to ordinary traffic for several days. Slips still straddle the highway and there is

much water on the road. The area leading up to Bush Stream is especially hazardous, as are the approaches to Dry Creek, where considerable scouring has occurred.

Mr Thomas said that the Ball Hut road was impassable. Two cars that had been left on the road by climbers were stranded and would not be recovered for some time. The road into Mount Cook was marginal and would be closed at night. Equipment from Twizel would be used to start moving the big slip, in the Black Birch Stream today. Thousands of cubic metres of material would have to be shifted and the stop-

banks would have to be rebuilt. There was no danger to the Hermitage. All areas of the village had been threatened by water at the height of the storm but the entrances to houses had been sandbagged to stop flooding. The foundations of the Glencoe staff quarters had been undermined, causing severe damage. Services to the youth hostel had been cut and the hostel had been closed. Tourists had flown out after having been taken by four-wheel-drive vehicle's to the airport, which was isolated by flooded streams. Between 40 and 50

people were engaged in emergency work.

Post office engineers worked throughout yesterday to repair storm damage and toll links to Mount Cook, Arthur’s Pass, and the West Coast were ‘‘virtually back to normal” by last evening, said a Post Office spokesman. All three areas were without telephone communication on Monday. In Ashburton County most damage was caused at the Rangitata River, where about 60m of the northern approach of State highway 72 to the Arundel bridge was swept away. The bridge was opened in March. 1978. The

County Engineer (Mr D. G. Thomson) estimated yesterday that it would cos: more than $20,000 to repair. He said the bridge’s des<gn had exceeded the South Canterbury Catchment Board’s requirements when it was built because the County Council had decided to raise it bv 40cm. It was hoped that at least one lane would be reopened within a week to 10 days. There had also been some flooding in the south branch of the Ashburton River. The Ashburton Gorge Road had been cut at the Potts River bridge and the Hakatere-

F.rewhon Road had been badly scoured. Ashburton Power Board men were working yesterday to restore power to the Rangitata Valley area which was cut when the Rangitata River widened and brought down a line. Residents at Rakaia Huts who left when the Rakaia River broke its banks west of the huts returned to their homes yesterday. Floodwaters had reached at least 0.5 m up the walls in houses on high ground. Other residents used small boats or waders to get to their houses on lower ground. Arthur's Pass still out. Page 3.