Latest news with #Waitotara

RNZ News

Watch: Several South Taranaki families cut off following floods

Several South Taranaki families remain cut off on Saturday following this week's flooding . South Taranaki District mayor Phil Nixon said some roads remain impassable and crews were working to clear slips and debris. "We still have some families isolated in the Tangahoe Valley and the Waitotara Valley. We're keeping in touch with them and able to look after any welfare needs if there is any. "Our crews are working their way up through those valleys and getting as much of the slips and that cleared as they can, but we still don't totally know the state of some of those roads until the crews work their way up." Nixon said the families were resilient, but in the case of a medical emergency, helicopters could be used to reach them. "They are used to being cut off at times. And so most of them are pretty well prepared for these sorts of events. And as I say, we're we're able to go and get help into them if we absolutely need to." It was unclear how many families were affected. Nixon said the situation with the Waitotara River was stable. "So, currently we do have some light grizzly rain. We have had for a while, and we're not expecting a lot of rain today, just misty, grizzly rain. "The Waitotara River has dropped overnight, although in the last few hours, it has been very, very slowly rising, so more or less I'd call it stable, but about three or four metres down on what it was at its peak yesterday." A further update is expected midday Saturday. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.