Ruapehu weather event update #4 – 3.45pm

Ruapehu District Council has activated its Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) in Taumarunui in response to the snow event currently impacting on the Central Plateau and Waimarino area.

Latest information from Metservice is that the bulk of the bad weather has moved through and the worst of the weather system has passed.

Metservice said that we are in an easing trend with the weather.

There is more snow is forecast for tomorrow, however, it will be at higher elevations such as top part of the Desert Rd.

Overnight temperatures will be close to freezing meaning icy roads and dangerous driving conditions.

Winds are South to South-East and strong in exposed places.

The forecast from Saturday is for clear skies and a dry weekend. This will mean icy driving conditions at night over the weekend.

State Highways on Central Plateau and local roads are still closed.

Clearing weather should allow road snow clearing crews to start to catch-up.

Police have needed to respond to a number of accidents and are urging people to stay off the roads.

Council’s Ohakune office has been open all day with a skeleton staff to assist with information enquiries and as a Welfare Centre.

The Ohakune office will close at 6.00pm tonight.

Power has been off in Ohakune and Raetihi for most of the afternoon and local power companies are hoping to it restored by around 5.00pm this afternoon.

Power outage has caused problems with both drinking water and wastewater plants.

The Army has offered Unimogs to help supply Raetihi and Ohakune with generators for water plants if the power is not restored.

People in Owhango, National Park, Ohakune, Raetihi and Whakapapa should conserve water until further notice.

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