Historical emergencies

NOT TO BE BROADCAST AFTER 09:00pm Wednesday 17-Dec-2014

MetService have advised that thunderstorms may form in Auckland. The highest risk period is between 3pm - 7pm today, with stronger thunderstorms more likely in southern parts of the region. Where thunderstorms form, surface flooding is likely and localised flooding of streams.

SEVERE WEATHER WARNING A front preceded by strong northeasterlies moves south over the North Island today (Wednesday 17 December), bringing a period of heavy rain to the northeast of the North Island. The heaviest falls are expected about the Coromandel Peninsula, Bay of Plenty and northern Gisborne.

SEVERE WEATHER WARNING. ISSUED BY MetService AT 9:25 pm 18-Oct-2014 Period of heavy rain for the eastern Bay of Plenty A front over northern New Zealand is expected to move slowly eastwards across the North Island overnight Saturday and during Sunday morning and become slow moving over East Cape Sunday afternoon. A moist northwest flow ahead of this front is expected to bring a period of heavy rain to the eastern Bay of Plenty. 80 to 100mm of rain could accumulate in the eastern Bay of Plenty in an 18 hour period from midnight Saturday. The frontal rainband should weaken Sunday evening. People are advised that this rain could make rivers and stream rise quickly, cause slips and surface flooding and make driving hazardous. HEAVY RAIN WARNING AREA/S AFFECTED Bay of Plenty east of Whakatane FORECAST Rain is expected to become heavy overnight Saturday. In the 18 hours from midnight Saturday to 6pm Sunday, 80 to 100mm of rain is likely. Heaviest rain rates could reach 15 to 20mm per hour at times. NEXT SEVERE WEATHER WARNING WILL BE ISSUED AT OR BEFORE 9:00 am Sunday 19-Oct-2014

SEVERE WEATHER WARNING. ISSUED BY MetService AT 7:36 pm 19-Oct-2014 Heavy rain about the ranges of eastern Bay of Plenty has eased and the warning for this area is lifted The rain has eased over the ranges of eastern Bay of Plenty and the warning for this area is lifted. WARNINGS NO LONGER IN FORCE HEAVY RAIN WARNINGS HAVE BEEN LIFTED FOR: Bay of Plenty ranges east of Whakatane

Vector has advised power to most customers has been restored. Customers are still being asked to conserve energy as there are two more cables to bring into service over this afternoon and evening. There may be some areas in Orakei, St Heliers and Remuera that may have power interrupted during the peak demand period this evening. Vector strongly recommends that people continue to conserve power in affected areas. To reduce the load on the network Vector are limiting the power to hot water cylinders, you may experience a lower temperature than normal. The Auckland Emergency Coordination Centre remains activated and is monitoring the situation while the network is operating by being back fed.

Vector has advised power to most customers was restored overnight. This morning 324 customers are without power and Vector expect, all going well, to have these reconnected today. Currently large parts of the network are reliant on back feeding, so intermittent outages may occur depending on demand. Vector strongly recommends that people continue to conserve power in affected areas. NZTA note intersections are operational and they are working on three in Remuera. Due to power restoration, Spark only have 2 sites presently down while Vodafone has 3 down. Some of the sites need to be reconnected on site and engineers are working on reconnection. Healthcare facilities are all operational running on mains power. As some areas of Auckland continue to wait for power to be restored, there are health concerns over food premises and residents using food that may be spoiled. The Auckland Emergency Coordination Centre remains activated while some locations are still without power and is closely monitoring the situation while the network is operating by being back fed.

The Auckland Emergency Coordination Centre remains activated in response to power outages in parts of Auckland. Vector advise that approximately 18,000 customers remain without power this morning. Customers are mainly located in parts of Remuera, Saint Johns/Meadowbank, Mount Wellington, Sylvia Park and a small part of St Heliers. Vector request that customers in the east Auckland isthmus limit power usage so that more customers can be reconnected with back feeding. Vector worked through the night on affected cables and will have more certainty of actual restoration times later today. Nine intersections remain without power across Auckland, four of these are presently manned by NZ Police for traffic control. Bus and rail services are running without disruption. A number of cell sites are still down due to the power outage. Spark has 17 cell sites down as of 0900 hours but expect the majority of these to be running by 1300 hours. Vodafone have 19 cell sites down. All hospitals are now on mains power. St John are working with individuals in the affected area that rely on medical alarms. Health services also have coordinated residential care teams working in affected areas to help vulnerable persons. As some areas of Auckland continue to wait for power to be restored, there are health concerns over food premises and residents using food that may be spoiled. Westerly winds are expected to be gusty in Auckland later today. Between 11am and 6pm, MetService expect that winds in exposed parts of the region could gust up to 100 km/hr. These winds are not expected to cause widespread damage but very localised power outages and trees down could occur during the afternoon.

Vector wishes to advise that crews have made good progress with restoring affected customers this afternoon. This brings the total number of customers out down to 39,600, down from the 85,000 out at the height of the substation fire this morning. Suburbs still affected by the damaged cables are Sylvia Park, Remuera, Mt Wellington, St Johns, Orakei and St Heliers - these customers are expected to be without power until Monday evening. Crews will continue to work Sunday night and throughout Monday in order to get customers restored as soon as possible. Major services such as water, sewerage and telecommunications are being kept operational by generators in affected areas. Traffic congestion and delays are expected in affected areas for Monday morning. Public transport is operating as normal but there are some delays to bus services. Generators have been provided for the traffic lights at key intersections and Police and Council contractors will be assisting to direct traffic where required.

Vector advises that up to 85,000 customers are without power in parts of central Auckland from Greenlane to Otahuhu. Affected customers could be without power for 24 - 48 hours particularly in the suburbs of St Johns, Remuera, Sylvia Park and Mt Wellington. Vector advise that medically dependent or vulnerable customers should make alternative arrangements.