Tourists rescued after night in cold near Fox Glacier, others still stranded in Haast as slips close West Coast highways
Friday, 2 February 2018
The 117 motorists stranded overnight between Fox Glacier and Franz Josef have been safely relocated to Fox Glacier Village, the Westland District Council says.
Power remains down, while helicopters flew generators to water treatment plants in Franz, Fox and Whataroa.
A 30-tonne digger would arrive at nightfall to clear a 60-metre slip between Fox Glacier and Franz Josef at Omoeroa, a council spokesman said.
The council hoped the road from Franz Josef to Whataroa and Whataroa to Ross would be cleared by the end of Friday.
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Additional electricity workers were coming from Ashburton to help get power up and running across the region as quickly as possible, he said.
State Highway 6 from Whataroa (north of Franz Josef) to Makarora (south of Haast) would be closed overnight, with the next update at 3pm on Saturday, NZ Transport Agency said. A 200-metre section of the Fox Glacier access road was washed out on Thursday and was closed.
Westland District Mayor Bruce Smith said power was expected to be restored in Franz Josef by 8pm Friday.
'There's lots of power lines down and lots of trees down right across the region that are going to take some time to get back into order.'
Smith said the Friday Hurricanes / Crusaders game in Greymouth would bring relief to the people working hard to clear the debris on the West Coast.
'To have it on the coast in Greymouth is fantastic for us all and the time is right.
'There's been a few people out there working some very long hours the last two days.'
HAAST TOURISTS MAY BE TRAPPED FOR DAYS
Meanwhile in Haast, a wedding party were among the tourists stranded in the West Coast town without phone coverage, wi-fi or a way to withdraw money.
Hundreds of people, mostly tourists, could be stuck there for days as a 100-metre long, 9-metre high slip at Douglas Bluff cut off the town on Thursday.
A wedding party, who were trying to get to a service on the West Coast on Saturday, were among those camping out at Haast's The Hard Antler Bar and Restaurant.
They and others were expected to be flown out by plane and helicopter on Friday. Phone service was restored to the area by 3.30pm on Friday, but internet and EFTPOS were still offline.
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A woman spoken to at the bar, who did not want to be named, said the wedding party's flight was supposed to be at 3pm, but there were nine of them so not all could fit on a six-seater plane.
'The bride and groom weren't stuck here, it was the groomsmen and the parents, I think.
'We have found most of them. One was going around looking for two others.'
'Everyone has been stuck here since [Thursday]. We don't have accommodation so they slept overnight in their cars, I believe.'
She said tourists were getting 'antsy' waiting for the road to reopen.
'We're trying to get them to understand everybody is in the same boat.
'Chances are there are probably going to be a lot of tourists who are stuck here for another night.
'We don't know if the road's going to be open or not, we won't know until after 5 o'clock.
'Someone will come around town once they know more about the roads and go to all the establishments and tell them so we can pass it on to everyone who is stuck.'
The bar did a roaring trade on Thursday – serving about 300 people between midday and closing – but was quieter on Friday. About 40 people stopped by for lunch.
'Today [Friday] is beer delivery day, and that's not happening, so if they wanted to drink us dry they could probably do it,' she said.
'AT LEAST WE'VE GOT A ROOF OVER OUR HEADS'
Several tourists took refuge from the wild weather at the Fantail Cafe sipping lattes, playing cards and watching movies.
English tourist Sam Evans was three weeks into his five-week New Zealand tour when his travelling party of 53 got trapped in Haast.
He said a town hall was converted into a sleeping quarters, which housed about 70 tourists.
'It's not amazing conditions, but at least we have a roof over our heads.'
Evans said money was starting to become an issue for the tourists as they are unable to withdraw money.
'We're looking forward to hopefully moving on as soon as possible, but we're just trying to stay as positive as we can.'
Fantail Cafe worker Jacob Banks, who has lived in Haast for 13 years, said extreme weather was quite common and it had flooded plenty of times.
'BETTER TO STAY PUT'
Westland District Mayor Bruce Smith said the damage caused by Thursday's wild weather was still being estimated as emergency services tried to clear a path north from Haast through the Fox Hills.
A church and a house in Haast were destroyed and the access way to Fox Glacier severely damaged.
A Westland Civil Defence spokesman said the road from Haast to Fox Glacier was 'pretty much clear' by 1.30pm on Friday, but 'infrastructure challenges' meant those stuck in Haast were best to stay there for now.
'There's power up, and water and sewage in Haast, but we don't have those in Fox [Glacier] at the moment. People think they're doing a good thing by moving, but they're better off staying where they are.'
Smith said the trapped tourists were 'enjoying southern hospitality right now'.
'They won't want to leave. 'Can you imagine what all these old bushmen will be like with 100 European travellers? It will be chaos.
'I can assure you one of the most urgent things will be to ensure trucks can get through to deliver more beer.'
CHOPPERED OUT OF FOX
The spokesman said the council was aware of 'a few medical issues' among the Fox Glacier tourists on Friday morning.
One person with a non-urgent medical condition had been flown out by helicopter, but it was not a viable option for moving large numbers of people, he said.
Emergency services needed to clear slips, fallen trees and live powerlines before that could happen. Water and sanitation in those areas were under review.
Smith said it had been 'a big night'.
'Along the beachfront all the way to Haast are areas where the damage is quite amazing, but put a digger there for three days and it will look like what it used to.
'We choose to live on the coast, by the rivers, by the sea, on a fault line and when something goes wrong we get together and sort it out.'
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