Big clean-up job continues on Coast

Press, 15 March 1982, Page 1

Big clean-up job continues on Coast

By

LES BLOXHAM

Workmen toiled from dawn to dusk during the week-end, clearing away huge slips and filling gaping holes along almost 200 km of South Westland's stormbattered highway from Harihari to the summit of the Haast Pass. But in spite of their efforts the road is unlikely to be open to through traffic before tomorrow. The main problem is a 48metre gap in the comparatively new two-way bridge over’ the Wailangi-taona River. Bkm south of Whataroa. Rampaging floodwaters on Thursday night swept away one of the huge concrete piles and two of the bridge’s spans. The force of the flow was so tremendous that steel girders were scattered like driftwood several hundred metres downstream. The. Ministry of Works is hoping to span the gap. with a Bailey bridge by tonight, but the road is not expected to be reopened before tomorrow at the earliest. Continuous heavy rain —

as much as 700 mm (about 27in) was recorded in some areas — on Thursday transformed rivers into torrents that gouged out stopbanks, bridge approaches, high-ten-sion power lines, and telephone links. On Friday morning the residents of South Westland and some 800 tourists awoke to find themselves isolated from the rest of the country. Some areas were still without electricity last evening. The Franz Josef township

lost its supply early on Friday morning’ when several poles carrying transmission lines across the Okarito River were swept away.

Local residents, who have been • worrying , for years about the way their worldfamous glacier is thawing, were saved from other deicing problems when the West Coast Power Board flew in emergency generators yesterday. line is now powering a large commercial freezer in the local store which is slocked with deep-trozen food from power-less homes in rhe area. The other generator has been.mounted on the back of a truck for use at various farmhouses to give their deep-freeze units a much needed boost. “The Power Board has done a tremendous job; those generators are a real lifesaver." said the township’s Civil Defence warden. Mr Ralph Fegan. last evening. Workmen hope to have electricity flowing into the area again by tomorrow. By Saturday morning about 360 tourists were stranded at Franz Josef Glacier, a similar number at Fox Glacier, and about 100 or so more further south at Haast. Those on tours with international . flight connec-tions-were flown out in a Dunkirk-like rescue mission from.ithe Franz Josef and Fox airstrips.

Al limes on Saturday the usually quiet airstrips were almost as busy as an international airport as small planes and helicopters shut-

tied back and forth to Hokitika and Queenstown. Bad weather prevented flights "oyer the top" to the Mount Cook airfield. Those with cars were not so lucky. Among those still stranded are two Sydney couples. Mr and Mrs R. Wall and Mr and Mrs N. Ross, who are on a three-ivcek self-drive tour of New Zealand. Full of optimism in spite of ‘-Thursday night's storm,, they ' 'set but from Franz-Josef for Greymouth on Friday morning. "We got only a mile along the road when wc realised we could not get any further because of the slips.” said Mrs Wall. "We have been stuck in our motel without electricity or hot water ever since."

They said they had never seen such torrential rain. The rivers were "simply boiling." said Mrs Wall. Mr Peter McCormack, who has been a guide at Franz Josef for more than 30 years, described the storm as the v "daddy of them all." "1 have never seen the Waiho (river) carrying so many trees and so much other debris before.”' he said. “We are lucky that we have a suspension bridge: if it had had piles like the Waitangitaona it almost certainly would have been also carried away."

The Waiho wreaked havoc to the glacier access road which local residents had to fight to have reopened after damage caused by a less severe flood in 197'9. Tourists and other visitors who want to see the glacier

will in the meantime have to rely on the Mount Cook Line’s helicopter and skiplane services. Fine weather during the week-end enabled workmen to make good progress in clearing slips and cutting tepiporary paths round big washouts' along the main highway between Franz Josef and Fox Glacier. Late yesterday a freight truck managed to get through to the Fox township with urgently needed supplies after being- towed by a bulldozer across the Wai-tangi-taona River.

Mr Fegan paid tribute to ’the work done by Ministry of Works employees, local contractors, and their foreman, Mr Ken Arnold, in restoring the link. He said he was also grateful that there happened to be two radio technicians from Tait Electronics at Franz Josef when the town became isolated on Friday. They provided a vital communication link with Greymouth and Hokitika by adapting a radio

transmitter they had with them, Mr Fegan said he had been pressing the Civil Defence authorities for an emergency radio for more than three years, but was still waiting. “Maybe they will see our need now," he said. The tourist flow through the Haast highway is not expected to return to normal until late in the week, lii the meantime, the people of Franz Josef are already preparing to start the ball rolling to ensure that their vital access road to the glacier is restored as soon as possible.