Cyclone Gabrielle inquest: MetService concedes red warning could've come sooner

a day ago

The national weather authority has revealed a rare warning issued only for 'significant impact' events could have been delivered a day earlier as Cyclone Gabrielle struck the country.
MetService chief meteorologist Chris Noble gave evidence during the second day of a coronial inquest into the deaths of 18 people during

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MetService issues heavy rain, strong wind watch for Northland

NZ Herald

13 hours ago

NZ Herald

MetService issues heavy rain, strong wind watch for Northland

Northlanders should brace for more rain, as another heavy rain watch has been issued for the region. Photo / NZME MetService has issued a heavy rain and strong wind watch for Northland as a fresh low approaches. The weather system is set to bring with it heavy rain and strong winds and MetService says there's a moderate chance the watch will be upgraded to a warning. The heavy rain

RNZ News

a day ago

RNZ News

Flood-hit Nelson-Tasman braces for next big storm

A map of the expected rain shows much of the country getting hit by downpours on Thursday. Photo: Supplied / MetService Civil Defence in the Nelson-Tasman region is racing to prepare for another big storm, which is expected to hit on Thursday morning. The district is still dealing with a huge clean up after last week's heavy rain, which caused rivers to burst their banks, flooding hundreds of homes, closing roads, and destroying farmland. Tasman Mayor Tim King said there was a massive amount of work to be done in very little time. "There's every effort being made both to give people enough information to make their own decisions about whether they might want to evacuate. "And physical work in the rivers, on the roads, around bridges - to as best as possible prepare for the worst-case scenario." He urged residents - particularly those who have been hit by flooding - to do whatever was necessary to limit potential damage. "If you're in an area that's subject to flooding or the impacts of heavy rain, if you're in any of those situations, preparation is crucially important, having a plan is important. "If sandbagging is something that you believe you need to do then get on to it." King said more rain on top of what they'd already had would be "challenging". "The level of destruction in a lot of the rural parts of our region is absolutely immense. "The stress amongst people trying to firstly to clean up and deal with what they already have to deal with, plus the thought of more rain, has a massive impact." King said reinforcements from the army and Fire and Emergency were being deployed to communities at risk of being cut off, and expressed frustration that some areas were still without internet or phone coverage. "It is massively frustrating that we are five days into an event and still there are areas - not highly isolated areas - but areas very close to our urban centres that have no reliable coverage. "Which makes it very difficult to get information out to people and for people to provide us with information." He said he wanted to see an urgent fix, especially ahead of Thursday's forecast storm. A resident in Wakefield who lost internet and mobile phone reception said the lack of communication meant she had no idea a state of emergency had been declared in Nelson-Tasman. Sarah Farmer said the storm knocked out coverage in her area and she left the house on Friday morning unaware of how severe it was. "We were on the road packed up going to school, and it wasn't till we got round the corner and saw all the floods, and we're like, 'we can't even cross this road'. "Turned around... and I just thought this is just adding so much risk, people are going out on the roads with no idea of how serious it is." Farmer said a Starlink set up by a local meal delivery charity - The Big Bake-Up - had helped restore communication to some people. The Big Bake-Up founder Melissa Woodhouse said the group immediately swung into action on Friday. She said in addition to the Starlink, they had been dropping home-cooked meals and baking - including bacon and egg pies and scones with cream and jam - to flood-hit homes. She said many of those people were still reeling from the damage caused by floodwaters. "Most of the people we've spoken to are just quite upset and anxious about the weather. I guess we'll never know who and where it's going to hit, so just that not knowing..." Woodhouse said residents were tossing up how much to clean up ahead of Thursday's forecast heavy rain. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

NZ Herald

a day ago

NZ Herald