Cleanup begins
(Posted: February 17 - 4pm)

THE big cleanup has started in the Manawatu District as floodwaters recede, services are reconnected and roads and bridges reopened.

Civil Defence personnel, however, are still keeping a close eye on potential problem areas in Kairanga and Feilding and are ready to evacuate residents if necessary.

There were some evacuations during the day involving 170 pupils from the Hato Paora College, near Cheltenham, who were taken to the marae at Massey University. The school’s power, water and sewage supplies had been cut.

About 100 Feilding residents, however, have been able to return to their homes today, but a further 48 remain at Manfeild Park as their houses are assessed or been deemed uninhabitable.

The 90 Tangimoana residents sheltering in Rongotea face another night away because of water levels, but some farmers in the area were allowed back to shift stock to higher ground.

Rescue services were kept busy throughout the day, with one unit travelling to Palmerston North to collect essential medication for a woman living in the flooded Aranui Road area at Kairanga.

Most of the rescue personnel have been reconnoitring Feilding and the outlying areas for the past two days, checking the status of roads and bridges and relaying the information to the communications centre and residents.

Power supplies are being reconnected throughout the district, with 95 percent of the residents north of Kimbolton who had lost their supply back on line.

Civil Defence also had to deal with bogus calls to radio stations, with one such call informing Feilding residents working in Palmerston North to return home immediately as the rivers were rising and the bridges were down to one-lane.

ENDS

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