Water supply critical in battered N.I. towns

Press, 10 March 1988, Page 1

Water supply critical in battered N.I. towns

PA Wellington Gisborne yesterday joined Wairoa on the critical list as water supplies in the city gave out after the failure of an emergency supply, in the aftermath of Cyclone Bola.

Throughout the country, Civil Defence authorities and local officials looked to the skies for both airborne aid and an easing of the weather as they began the task of cleaning up the damage wreaked bv days of storms.

Most of Gisborne went on to emergency water rations and many parts of Northland were without power for the third day running as the storm wound down but the widespread damage remained. About 1500 people have been moved away from the GisborneEast Coast area and millions of dollars worth of crops were damaged as record flood ‘ts swamped the area in the ft. math of the cyclone. Hawke’s Bay’s Chardonnay grape crop could be threatened by the disease, botrytis, if the wet weather continues.

Wairoa, cut in two after its main bridge collapsed on Tuesday, remained isolated from the rest of New Zealand, as it waited for emergency supplies to be flown in.

It is hoped to sling pipe across the Wairoa River today to reestablish the town’s water supply. Gisborne was without water after an emergency supply failed, leaving one of two emergency reservoirs empty and the other only half full.

Like Wairoa, Gisborne was anxiously waiting for basic foodstuffs to be flown in. Civil Defence organisers also hoped to get additional supplies of vital commodities such as fuel for helicopters on an Andover aircraft flight. The water situation on the southern side of Wairoa was described by the Mayor, Mr Cliff Owen, as critical, last evening. i Gisborne's water supply is the biggest problem facing the Civil Defence organisation after 48 hours of the district's state of emergency. Floodwaters are finally receding on Poverty Bay flats but not quickly enough to allow about 300 people moved out to return home last evening. ] The Civil Defence controller, Mr Allan Brown, said yesterday the state of emergency would continue, pending a review at 7 a.m. It could be three days or about a night before repairs were .jssib’.e to the pipeline in the i. .J ■ .rs area..' The Trust Bank Group announced a grant of $50,000 for the East Coast. The nine-bank group also announced a national appeal. Members of the public and organisations throughout New Zealand can make donations for the East Coast at any branch of the member banks of the Trust Bank Group from today, f

Northland, which suffered at least $1 million damage, faces a third night without power and water supplies in many towns remain ruptured. I It was too'early for the Gov-

ernment to talk about how much money would be needed for disaster relief. "But we certainly expect it will be a considerable amount,” said the Minister of Civil Defence, Dr Bassett. The Cabinet would discuss the civil emergency and what steps should be taken to alleviate the problems at its meeting on Monday. Flooding in Coromandel on Tuesday could have been prevented if Government funding had been made available 'to restore previous danger areas, said the Civil Defence regional zone controller, Mr Basil Morrison, yesterday. Both the Thames Coromandel District Council and Hauraki Catchment Board had repeatedly asked for Government funding to restore previous danger areas, he said. “All hell will break loose now,” he said. Details from remote areas remain sketchy but there have been reports of up to 900 mm of rain since Sunday in the Tauwhareparae area inland from Tolaga Bay where a massive slip was said to have carried away 60 per cent of one property. A new bridge at Wairoa, replacing the one shattered during the storm floods, could cost as much as $3 million. At least five major State highways were blocked by slips and flooding in Hawke’s Bay yesterday and at least two, the NapierTaupo and the Napier-Wairoa roads, will be blocked at least until this morning. Staff have begun the mam-

moth job of trying to clear the Napier-Wairoa and Napier-Taupo highways. Teams were working from either end of the Napier-Wairoa road but the Ministry spokesman, Mr John Patten, said it was unlikely to be cleared before this morning. Power and hot water supplies continued to be disrupted in Auckland yesterday. The Waitemata Electric Power Board spokesman, Mr Brian Cunningham, said workers were still working their way through a rash of faults caused by the two days of storms. Families living in Twyford, skm west of Hastings, were moved out of their homes last evening after a local state of civil emergency was called. The rain-swollen Ngaruroro River came over a stopbank bordering the orchard and grape-growing district yesterday afternoon and residents were told to leave. About 130 school pupils, parents and teachers, have been stranded at camps by the floods in northern Hawke’s Bay. But none of the parties — from Tikokino (central Hawke’s Bay), Hastings Girls’ High School and Whangara (Gisborne), and Wairoa Intermediate — has had its safety seriously threatened. Urewera National Park’s senior conservation officer, Mr Peter Williamson, yesterday helped the Whangara group to more secure ground. Pictures, reports, page 3