Cyclone Gabrielle weather effects have weakened enough throughout the district to allow council to conduct aerial and ground observation of our road network. There still remains steady rainfall and winds in places and rivers are still in high flows, with many areas still in flood.  Further rainfall is expected overnight.

Council have been able to assess a small number of locations today, but with the large road network in the district, further assessments will take some time to complete, subject to weather conditions. Many roads are still closed, and for many, this will be the case for a while.

Once assessed, the priority will be on opening roads followed by fixing them. This will not always occur at the same time and will be prioritised taking into account numerous factors. Continued viewing of our road status on our website will be essential when making travel plans, it can be viewed on www.tararuadc.govt.nz/services/roading/current-road-status

For State Highways please refer to the Waka Kotahi/NZTA journey planner: www.journeys.nzta.govt.nz

Mayor, Tracey Collis remarked today; “Our road teams have been on the ground assessing the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle on the district.  This is a significant first step in opening our roads again, but it will take time. Progress has been made on getting emergency only access in some areas. In many cases our teams are having to clear multiple trees and slips only to find out portions of road have become impassable.  One thing we can be sure of is that this will not be an overnight fix. Teams are underway on this work but it will take some time to deal with the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle.

Our thanks go out to the road teams working on this. I would also like to thank the many residents who have provided us with accurate reports on our Antenno app and we hope to share some of the images with the public, so they are aware of the impacts on our district.”

Road users are reminded that even though they will see road crews working on our roads, it does not always mean the road is open or safe. Road users are asked to follow road signage instructions at each site for their own, and our road crews, safety.

Residents continue to report road and other issues to us on our Antenno app. This has proven to be very useful for council to determine the nature of damage in many locations.  We encourage residents to keep using Antenno for their reports. If they have not already got the app, please download it as it has proven to be very effective during the Cyclone Gabrielle response. The app is free and can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play. Further information on the Antenno app is on our website at www.tararuadc.govt.nz/contact-us/antenno