Ruapehu District Council has stepped down its Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) to a monitoring phase (Level 1) after a regional round up with Civil Defence headquarters in Palmerston North this afternoon.
The Council says the while the worst of the weather now looks to have passed over the northern Ruapehu area, a narrow southerly band of rain is expected to bring 15-20ml of rain to the Taumarunui area over the next few hours.
The weather event has left behind a big clean-up on local roads and State Highways with multiple slips and blocked roads.
River levels are expected to continue to rise slightly before beginning to drop but not cause any additional issues.
High river levels are flooding across a number of roads including Ohura Rd and SH4 which are likely to remain cut for a few days.
People are asked not to risk driving through flooding.
Council road contractors are busy responding to multiple local slip outages around the district which will take some time to clear.
NZTA advise that the major road outage on SH4 between Taumarunui and Te Kuiti will not be cleared for a couple of days.
SH43 (The Forgotten World Highway) between Taumarunui and Whangamomona is also blocked with multiple slips.
People are asked to avoid these areas or delay their trip if possible.
Anyone who is travelling should check the NZTA Journey Planner before leaving.
While some Ruapehu Water Treatment Plants (WTP) needed to stop operations due to high river turbidity there was no issue with supply as reservoirs have been able to meet demand.
Council’s recovery focus over the coming days will be on the roading network.
With the number of slips people are asked to be patient as road contractors move around the district.
People driving around the district are asked to take additional care, drive to the conditions, and watch out for work crews.
Please report any local road outage issues to Council on 07 895 8188.
