State of Emergency declared in Auckland

Heavy rain causing flooding, evacuations and State of Emergency declared in Auckland

27 - 28 Jan 2023

Auckland Airport flooded and evacuated

27 Jan 2023

Auckland mayor Wayne Brown has declared a state of emergency in the Auckland region which comes into force immediately and will expire in seven days.

"This declaration reflects the extent of damage, displacement and disruption caused by this evening's severe weather event and enables emergency services and response agencies to draw on resources, and enact additional powers, to assist affected Aucklanders," Brown said in a statement.

Auckland Northern Motorway flooded

MetService has issued a red level heavy rain warning for Auckland about and south of Cape Rodney until 3am on Saturday with up to 120mm of rain forecast in addition to the 150-200mm that had already fallen.

The rain was likely to cause significant flooding and dangerous river conditions, MetService said.

Slips and flooding were likely to disrupt travel and make some roads impassable possibly isolating communities, it said.

MetService reported 238mm of rain had fallen across central Auckland on Friday.

North Shore Auckland, Shopping Centre flooded

An emergency accommodation centre has been set up at St Leonard's Primary School at 15 St Leonards Road in the west Auckland suburb of Kelston to house people evacuated from floodwaters.

Auckland Emergency Management said staff were out assessing flooding, including reports of people being rescued from the roofs of their houses.

Duty Controller Andrew Clark said people should stay at home and shelter if it was safe to do so.

Victoria Park tunnel to Northern Motorway Flooded

The severe weather was set to continue until the early hours of Saturday morning, he said.

Power company Vector said that today's flooding has impacted the electricity network causing widespread outages, particularly in West Auckland.

The Elton John concert scheduled for Mt Smart stadium on Friday night was cancelled, but there were already around 11,000 people at the stadium when the announcement was made.

A building on Candia Road, Auckland slipped down a hill

Motorists are being advised to stay off the roads in the Auckland region if possible and not to drive through flood waters. Many roads are flooded and large sections of motorways and main roads are flooded.

Many residents in West Auckland have their homes flooded.

Latest Tweet from:

Auckland Transport

There is currently widespread disruption across our public transport and roading network as a result of today's severe rain and flooding. Please stay at home if you can, and if you do need to travel please take care.

Flooding in Henderson, West Auckland

Flooding in Auckland International Airport

Victoria Park - Franklin Rd intersection Auckland City

Approach to Harbour Bridge from Auckland City

Mt Eden Road Auckland

Pigeon Post News, Richmond, Tasman,

More heavy rain in store for the upper North Island

MetService Weather

Covering period of Thursday 26 - Monday 30 January

A humid northerly flow has set up over Aotearoa / New Zealand and is here for the long run. While this warm air from the north will raise temperatures across the country, it will also bring rain along with it. 

MetService is forecasting more heavy rain for the upper North Island, particularly for Northland, the Coromandel Peninsula, and the Bay of Plenty, areas which have already received significant rain this month.

MetService Meteorologist Jessie Owen says “It is going to be a very wet start to Auckland Anniversary weekend. Heavy rain could cause flooding and slips and make travel hazardous so if you’re planning on heading away for the long weekend it’s a good idea to keep up with the forecasts and perhaps consider delaying your travel.”

Heavy rain is expected to move onto Northland on Thursday evening where a Heavy Rain Warning is in force until Friday evening. 

It will then continue to spread south; a Heavy Rain Watch is in force for northern Auckland on Friday and Heavy Rain Warnings have been issued for the Coromandel and Bay of Plenty from Friday through to Saturday. 

There is also a Strong Wind Watch in place for northeasterly winds in Auckland on Friday. 

Further south, those celebrating Nelson Anniversary should have better luck, while they may still see some scattered rain or showers across the weekend plenty of fine breaks are also in store. 

Hot temperatures across the South Island will take a brief plunge on Saturday after a cold front spreads up the east coast, before bouncing back again on Sunday. 

Owen says, “Christchurch in particular is forecast to drop from a high of 28°C on Friday right down to 21°C on Saturday, before climbing back to a high of 29°C by Monday.”

The humid air from the north is expected to persist into next week, which could bring further bouts of heavy rain to northern areas, and also to the west of the South Island which has largely escaped the heavy rain so far this year. 

Keep up with the latest severe weather updates at https://www.metservice.com/warnings/severe-weather-outlook and https://www.metservice.com/warnings/home

Rainfall for the next 5 days

Pigeon Post News, Richmond

Tasman District Council to start water rationing

January, 2023

A WIDE AREA OF WATER RATIONING IN TASMAN  

Stage One water restrictions

Stage One water restrictions for users in Motupiko, Tadmor and Waimea Plains water management zones will come into force from Monday, 30 January. 

Tasman’s Dry Weather Taskforce had its first meeting for the summer on Tuesday 24 January to assess the water situation around the district. 

Taskforce Convenor, Kim Drummond, said that while data showed most rivers and dams in the district were above their trigger levels, at the present rate of recession they are likely to dip below the triggers soon. At present it doesn’t look like there will be sufficient rainfall in the coming days to hold the river levels up. 

 As a result, Stage One rationing, meaning a cut in use by 20 percent of consented water take levels, was announced for the Motupiko and Tadmor water management zones, as well as unaffiliated and affiliated consent holders in the Waimea Delta, Golden Hills, Redwood, Waimea Reservoir, Upper Confined, Waimea Upper Catchment and Waimea West water management zones. 

Watering of lawns or decorative gardens is not permitted for any water user situated in water management zones where Stage One rationing is in effect.  

“By going into Stage One at an early stage, it is hoped that we can delay and hopefully avoid the need of going into Stage two restriction in the coming weeks”. 

“While all the Waimea water users - affiliated and unaffiliated to the Waimea Community Dam - are being treated the same as we move into this initial rationing step, we will see a change in the approach should we move beyond stage one rationing.”   

The Stage One position will be reviewed at the next Taskforce meeting on Tuesday January 31, 2023. 

 

Phase A restrictions introduced for Waimea and Wakefield urban supplies 

Tasman District Council Community Infrastructure Group Manager Richard Kirby announced that Phase A watering restrictions are also being introduced for the Waimea and Wakefield council water supplies, and their rural extensions, effective immediately 

 Waimea includes Richmond, Brightwater, Hope, Redwood 1 and 2 and Māpua water supplies. 

These particular restrictions apply with immediate effect from Wednesday January 25, 2023. 

Under Phase A restrictions, watering of grass or lawns is not permitted.  However, watering decorative and productive gardens is permitted using a handheld hose with trigger nozzle or time limited water system.   

For pool owners, filling a pool is prohibited at this time, however topping up a pool is still permitted.      

Nelson residents living adjacent to Champion Road, where water is supplied from the Richmond Water Supply Scheme, will also face Phase A water restrictions. 

This also covers the Wakatu Industrial Estate, Champion and parts of Saxton Road West. 

Richard said the Phase A restrictions would be reviewed later in the week, with a move to Phase B possible in the coming days. 

Residents in all areas of the district are encouraged to conserve water as much as possible and hints on how to do that are available on the Council website.    

More details on what the restrictions mean can be found at  tasman/govt.nz/link/water-restrictions

Tasman District Council

Pigeon Post News, Richmond

NOTICE FOR - Rainbow Youth in Golden Bay

 

Something is coming for the youth in Golden Bay! Mohua Social Services is facilitating a visionary afternoon! 

Text Jess for more information - 027 232 5513

Rainbow Youth 14 - 25.

Come and be part of creating a vision for Rainbow Youth

in Golden Bay.

When: Friday 27th January at 3.30pm.

Where: Community Centre, 88 Commercial St.

Text Jess for more information on 027 232 5513.

Mohua Social Services

Pigeon Post News, Richmond

Tasman fire above SH65 - Fire crews working to finish operations today

 

Shenandoah Saddle fire in Tasman

Yesterday firefighters were looking to finish operations for the Shenandoah Saddle fire in the Tasman District which started on Monday, but continued today Wednesday 25th Jan 2023 working to dampen the hotspots on the fire ground.

Firefighters and four helicopters are working on a fire burning on conservation land on the northern side of the Shenandoah Saddle.

Fire and Emergency District Manager Grant Haywood says “the fire was 80 percent contained by nightfall Tuesday and a crew remained on site overnight to monitor the situation.”

Today, firefighters are looking to finish operations for the Shenandoah Saddle fire.

The fire is estimated to have burned through 50 hectares of conservation land since Monday morning. It is situated to the west of State Highway 65.

One Fire and Emergency crew, one crew from the Department of Conservation and 2 helicopters are working to dampen the hotspots on the fire ground today.

"There are some deep-seated hotspots on the fire ground that our crews are working hard to mop up," District Manager Grant Haywood says.

While there is some rain forecast for today, Grant Haywood says it is unlikely to impact the hotspots. "However, with light wind and a bit of rain forecast, the conditions aren’t looking too bad for our crews today," he says.

Grant Haywood says activity will concentrate on completing the containment lines around the fire and dealing with hotspots.

Grant Haywood says that the fire is burning in steep terrain that is difficult for ground crews to access. No properties are threatened and SH65 has reopened under traffic management. Refer to Waka Kotahi for information about the State Highway: https://www.journeys.nzta.govt.nz/traffic

Grant Haywood says the crews have been working hard over the last two days to put out the fire. "The fire crews, including crews from DOC, have been doing a tremendous job. We really appreciate the support," he says.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand

Pigeon Post News, Richmond

Nelson Kite Festival

 Kite Festival

The Nelson Summer Kite Festival is an amazing annual event held in Neale Park, Nelson. This year it was held on Saturday and Sunday 21st & 22nd of January attracting kite fliers from all over NZ, local kite fliers and many spectators.

The Nelson Kite Club is behind this spectacle for all to enjoy.

The New Zealand kite fliers association is behind them helping to hold regional flying days throughout the country. 

The association publish a magazine every four months called "What's Up" to help maintain communication among their members. If you are keen on becoming a member or for further information contact the Local Rep in your area. The link to the association is:  https://www.nzka.org.nz

We shout out a tribute to Ted & Gretchen Howard who initiated the event in 1991 and the Nelson Kite Club for providing this spectacle for all to enjoy.

Here are a few photos from the festival: 

Hon Dr Nick Smith with Linley dropped into the Kite Festival 

Pigeon Post News, Richmond

NZ’s new prime minister – there are two ways it can go from here

The  New Prime Minister Chris Hopkins

  Two ways it can go from here

Following the surprise resignation of Jacinda Ardern on January 19, the New Zealand Labour Party already has a new leader: Chris Hipkins. The handover from Ardern to Hipkins has been achieved with the same efficiency as the handover from Andrew Little to Ardern in 2017. But will it be as successful?

Hipkins entered parliament in 2008 – along with Ardern. Under Ardern’s leadership, he held ministerial portfolios in education, police and public services, and was Leader of the House.

His role as education minister includes a (not altogether successful) centralisation of all the country’s polytechnics under one administrative umbrella – a form of restructuring typical of this Labour government.

He distinguished himself during the COVID pandemic as a hard-working and competent leader who contributed a much-needed clarity and common sense. He’s a dependable and intelligent politician who doesn’t mind being an attack dog when it’s called for.

As leader, however, Hipkins now faces an uphill battle, with his party trailing the opposition National Party in the most recent published polls. But he lacks Ardern’s charisma.

In 2017, there was an instant “Jacindamania” effect when she took the party leadership, and Labour’s polling shot up. One simply can’t imagine a “Chris-mania”, however. But maybe that’s not a bad thing right now.

Game over?

There are two ways this could go now. First, the nightmare scenario for Labour: the government continues to be sniped at over controversial and unpopular policies such as the Three Waters programme and the income insurance scheme, economic problems continue to damage household budgets, the opposition leaders (both National’s Christopher Luxon and ACT’s David Seymour) have a field day.

In head-to-head debates with Luxon once the election campaign begins, Hipkins lacks the fire that Ardern was able to show when she needed it, and becomes political roadkill at the ballot box on October 14. Labour supporters wake up in a cold sweat.

With Labour’s ongoing slump in the polls, trailing National by around five or six percentage points, this scenario can’t be ruled out. Following defeat, Labour could go into the kind of spiral it endured after Helen Clark’s loss in 2008, with one unsuccessful leader after another.

We can recall the defeat of Labour’s Phil Goff in 2011 and David Cunliffe in 2014 when up against National’s John Key. And, to be fair, National suffered a similarly bad run after Bill English stood down in 2018 and until Luxon became leader in November 2021.

A new hope?

So is there a dream scenario for Labour? With Ardern’s charismatic – and now rather polarising – personality heading for the exit, the party could turn things around.

New leadership licences a significant cabinet reshuffle and (more importantly) a refresh of policy. Labour could now neutralise (or even dump) some policy proposals that are presently causing public dissatisfaction.

Rather than Hipkins having somehow to fill Ardern’s shoes, he could follow his own path in his own trusty trainers.

An advantage he has is an apparent unanimity of support from his caucus. This suggests his team is focused on beating National rather than beating one another.

But can Labour win back the support of those middle-ground voters who’ve shifted to the centre-right? It appears many of those who’ve swung away from Labour actually liked Ardern. And Ardern remained on top in preferred prime minister polls right up until days before she resigned.

We could infer from this that a leadership change on its own won’t suffice to woo these voters back. The loss of Ardern could indeed precipitate a further drop in polling for Labour.

A policy reset

Late in 2022, Ardern had stated that the government’s focus this year would be the economy. And National will inevitably use the line that they (National) are the more competent when it comes to “managing the economy”.

If Labour is serious about winning the 2023 election, then, they need to convince enough voters of the following:

• they are addressing the real economic concerns that are affecting people presently
• they have taken heed of people’s disquiet over some current policy changes and are prepared to revise them
• and they are not going any further with controversial matters, especially co-governance with Māori, without first seeking a wider public understanding and consensus.

Hipkins is a competent and reliable person. If he has his party’s backing to revise or backtrack on policy, then he may have some success. With less focus on personalities this time around, his best hope may be to convince people his government is serious about resetting the country’s direction.

Author:

Grant Duncan

Associate Professor, School of People, Environment and Planning, Massey University

Pigeon Post News, Richmond