Historical emergencies

MetService have advised that heavy rain is expected to continue until 9am Sunday. From 9am Saturday another 60mm is expected to fall. Rainfall intensities of 15 to 20mm/hr is expected during Sunday morning and then the rainfall is expected to ease. Significant flooding is no longer expected with these accumulations and intensities. Surface flooding is likely across Auckland through to Sunday morning. Low lying north facing coastal roads may experience wave splash around the 2pm high tide this afternoon. Localised wind damage such as power lines and trees down are possible in exposed areas. The severe wind watch has been lifted. If you have to travel drive to the conditions. **During and after a storm** - Stay up to date with weather forecasts. - Ensure you are aware of low lying areas that could flood rapidly - Report flooding to council.' - Ensure a torch, radio and spare batteries are to hand. **Take the link below to find out what to do before a storm.**

Mayor Len Brown says Auckland Council is cooperating closely with Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) on its Queensland fruit fly operation in central Auckland. The council is making resources available to MPI to assist with the operation. Len Brown urges all residents in the affected zones, and people moving in and out of the zones, to be vigilant and follow MPI guidelines. **Ministry for Primary Industries confirms fourth fruit fly find in controlled area** The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has confirmed a fourth fruit fly in Grey Lynn and believes it to be part of the same localised population as previous detections. A single male Queensland fruit fly was found on Sunday (22 February) in a trap inside the existing Controlled Area. There are no changes to the Controlled Area as a result of the find at this stage, says MPI Chief Operations Officer, Andrew Coleman. "We have been expecting to find more flies, so the latest detection is no surprise, and confirms that the trapping systems continues to be successful." "The find was close to the original detections, so we believe the fly is likely to be part of the same population." MPI has so far trapped three male fruit flies. A single unmated female was located at a residential property on Friday. MPI and its response partners, including GIA signatories KVH and PipfruitNZ, have moved quickly to respond to the fruit fly threat. MPI currently has more than 180 staff working in the field on the response. The response involves the use of movement controls, traps, public awareness and treatment. Stricter controls continue to be applied at New Zealand’s borders. During the weekend, ground staff laid bait in Zone A of the Controlled Area. It expects to lay bait in the rest of the area today. Ground-based spraying has also been completed under the fruiting trees where positive finds have been made. "We continue to appreciate the outstanding public support we have received for our movement controls," says Mr Coleman. "We have every confidence that our measures will effectively eradicate this population." **Further background about the Controlled Area Notice** All whole fresh fruit and vegetables (except for leafy vegetables and root vegetables) cannot be moved outside of the wider Controlled Area. Within the wider Controlled Area there is a smaller central Zone A (which takes in a circle 200 metres out from the initial find), and whole fruit and vegetables cannot be moved outside of this Zone at all. Residents within Zone A are asked to dispose of all store-bought fruit and vegetable waste in the special disposal bins that have been provided by MPI. Zone A residents are asked to leave any home-grown fallen fruit on the ground in their garden for inspection by MPI. Do not put home-grown produce in your MPI disposal bin. Zone B residents can continue to dispose of all fruit and vegetables in the MPI disposal bins which are distributed at convenient locations around the area. Fruit and vegetables can continue to be purchased and transported from outside the Controlled Area into the Controlled Area.

Mayor Len Brown says Auckland Council is cooperating closely with Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) on its Queensland fruit fly operation in central Auckland. The council is making resources available to MPI to assist with the operation. Len Brown urges all residents in the affected zones, and people moving in and out of the zones, to be vigilant and follow MPI guidelines. **Ministry for Primary Industries confirms fourth fruit fly find in controlled area** The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has confirmed a fourth fruit fly in Grey Lynn and believes it to be part of the same localised population as previous detections. A single male Queensland fruit fly was found on Sunday (22 February) in a trap inside the existing Controlled Area. There are no changes to the Controlled Area as a result of the find at this stage, says MPI Chief Operations Officer, Andrew Coleman. "We have been expecting to find more flies, so the latest detection is no surprise, and confirms that the trapping systems continues to be successful." "The find was close to the original detections, so we believe the fly is likely to be part of the same population." MPI has so far trapped three male fruit flies. A single unmated female was located at a residential property on Friday. MPI and its response partners, including GIA signatories KVH and PipfruitNZ, have moved quickly to respond to the fruit fly threat. MPI currently has more than 180 staff working in the field on the response. The response involves the use of movement controls, traps, public awareness and treatment. Stricter controls continue to be applied at New Zealand’s borders. During the weekend, ground staff laid bait in Zone A of the Controlled Area. It expects to lay bait in the rest of the area today. Ground-based spraying has also been completed under the fruiting trees where positive finds have been made. "We continue to appreciate the outstanding public support we have received for our movement controls," says Mr Coleman. "We have every confidence that our measures will effectively eradicate this population." **Further background about the Controlled Area Notice** All whole fresh fruit and vegetables (except for leafy vegetables and root vegetables) cannot be moved outside of the wider Controlled Area. Within the wider Controlled Area there is a smaller central Zone A (which takes in a circle 200 metres out from the initial find), and whole fruit and vegetables cannot be moved outside of this Zone at all. Residents within Zone A are asked to dispose of all store-bought fruit and vegetable waste in the special disposal bins that have been provided by MPI. Zone A residents are asked to leave any home-grown fallen fruit on the ground in their garden for inspection by MPI. Do not put home-grown produce in your MPI disposal bin. Zone B residents can continue to dispose of all fruit and vegetables in the MPI disposal bins which are distributed at convenient locations around the area. Fruit and vegetables can continue to be purchased and transported from outside the Controlled Area into the Controlled Area.

The Ministry for Primary Industries is taking urgent action to eradicate the fruit fly population discovered in Auckland and is confident of success given the resources and expertise at its disposal. See more details below.

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) confirms that an isolated population of the Queensland fruit fly has been found in the Auckland suburb of Grey Lynn.

Mayor Len Brown says Auckland Council is cooperating closely with MPI on its Queensland fruit fly operation in central Auckland. The council is making resources available to MPI to assist with the operation. Len Brown urges all residents in the affected zones, and people moving in and out of the zones, to be vigilant and follow MPI guidelines. The following is the latest information from MPI; Further fruit fly found in Auckland The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) confirms that an isolated population of the Queensland fruit fly has been found in the Auckland suburb of Grey Lynn. A resident of the higher-risk Zone A in the middle of the existing Controlled Area found a single fly in a lemon tree on his property, captured it and reported it to MPI. The fly was formally identified as a recently-emerged un-mated female adult fruit fly. This is the only fly that has been found, over and above the initial trapped fly found earlier this week. Chief Operations Officer Andrew Coleman says thanks must go to the resident who captured and reported the fly, allowing MPI to act swiftly to scope the problem. “Our investigators immediately visited the property concerned where they found lemons and plums containing Queensland fruit fly larvae,” Mr Coleman says. “In total, at close of operations last night, MPI confirmed that one fly, 39 larvae and one pupa had been found at the property.” The Ministry and its response partners, including GIA signatories KVH and PipfruitNZ, are now deploying significant resources to respond to this localised detection. “We have every confidence that treatment will quickly and effectively eradicate this population. We have successfully eradicated previous incursions of fruit fly – notably the Mediterranean fruit fly in Auckland in 1996.” Mr Coleman says initial treatment will involve placing bait in fruiting trees to attract and kill female fruit flies. The bait will be applied high up in trees and plants, away from children or pets. “A second line of treatment will involve some targeted ground-based spraying of areas under fruiting trees where positive finds have been made. This involves using an insecticide that is safe for use in residential areas and has been proven to do no harm to people or animals such as family pets or livestock. “No use of aerial spraying will be required,” Mr Coleman says. MPI advises members of the public that the existing controls on fruit and vegetable movements remain largely the same with the previously defined wider Controlled Area remaining the same. The only change is to the scale of the higher-risk Zone A which has been slightly extended. This will be communicated to the Auckland public as soon as possible. The instructions for residents inside the Controlled Area also remain the same – whole fresh fruit and vegetables (except for leafy vegetables and root vegetables) cannot be moved outside of the defined area. This is to ensure that fruit flies are not spread outside of the area. Detailed maps of the controlled area and a full description of the boundaries, and full information about the rules are at www.mpi.govt.nz An additional export restriction zone now extends for 3.5km from the location of the last detection. Produce susceptible to fruit fly grown within this zone cannot be exported. New Zealand markets for horticultural produce have been notified of the situation. Andrew Coleman says since Tuesday MPI has introduced more stringent risk assessment of all pathways (cargo, craft, mail and passengers) and heightened awareness by front line quarantine inspectors. This includes more international air passengers’ luggage now going through x-ray and implementing 100% passenger and luggage screening by an MPI Detector Dog at international airports. This could mean some minor inconvenience for inbound passengers, but is necessary given the risk to New Zealand. If it became established here, the Queensland fruit fly could have serious consequences for New Zealand’s horticultural industry. It can damage a wide range of fruit and vegetables and could lead to restrictions on trade in some of our horticultural exports. It can also have impacts on home gardens. Further background about the Controlled Area Notice: All whole fresh fruit and vegetables (except for leafy vegetables and root vegetables) cannot be moved outside of the wider Controlled Area. Within the wider Controlled Area there is a smaller central Zone A (which takes in a circle 200 metres out from the initial find), and whole fruit and vegetables cannot be moved outside of this Zone at all. Residents within Zone A are asked to dispose of all store-bought fruit and vegetable waste in the special disposal bins that have been provided by MPI. Zone A residents are asked to leave any home-grown fallen fruit on the ground in their garden for inspection by MPI. Do not put home-grown produce in your MPI disposal bin. Zone B residents can continue to dispose of all fruit and vegetables in the MPI disposal bins which are distributed at convenient locations around the area. Fruit and vegetables can continue to be purchased and transported from outside the Controlled Area into the Controlled Area.

As part of the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) surveillance programme, a single male Queensland fruit fly has been found in a trap in the Auckland suburb of Grey Lynn. MPI has placed controls on the movement of whole fresh fruit and vegetables within a specified 1.5 kilometre zone around Grey Lynn.

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.

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.