Final roading update - A big thanks to our contractors

Following yesterday's weather bomb our local council roads are now open with Blackjack Road, in the Kuaotunu Village open, but restricted to one lane in places as there are slips. Our contractors will be on site today working to restore it to two lanes.

SH25 just south of Cemetery Rd, Kuaotunu (pictured above) is still closed. Despite contractors working hard from both sides to clear the slip overnight, the road, which is managed by NZTA, will not be cleared today. Subject to further geotechnical assessment, contractors are hopeful of re-opening this section of the highway later this week and will reassess the slip at midday tomorrow.

“I would like to thank all of our contractors for their hard work and help with the clean-up effort to get the roads open as soon as possible,” says Garry Towler, our Civil Defence Controller. “There may still be minor slips and debris, so please still take care on our roads over the next few days.”

See the NZTA website for updates on the SH25 closure.

If you see a Council road that is impassable due to flooding or a debris, call us on 07 868 0200. If the issue is with a State Highway (eg, the Thames Coast Road, Kopu-Hikuai Road) please tell NZ Transport Agency on 0800 4 HIGHWAYS (0800 44 44 49) to speak to the call centre team who can also provide traffic and travel information.

There is still a network outage in the Mercury Bay area due a damaged cable following the weather event. Chorus are telling their technicians are on-site repairing and the current estimated time of resolution is 8.00pm this evening.

As a result of this network outage, our Mercury Bay district library closed at midday.

Here are some websites to help you stay informed:

Check MetService for the latest weather forecasts on this weather system.

Check NZTA's website before you travel for the latest information about road closures or work underway. You can also use their journey-planning website www.onthemove.govt.nz to plan the best route for your journey, taking into account known issues and traffic on state highways.

Red Cross Hazards App - alerts about hazards. Download from the App Store or Google Play.

Local radio - Check stations and frequencies here.

Emergency Mobile Alert - these can be sent to your mobile phone, without needing to download an app or sign up. Check if your phone is capable of receiving them, here

Know your neighbours - phone each other, especially vulnerable people, to check if they're OK.

Waikato Regional Council has set up an online hub for rainfall and flood-related information to help people more easily keep up to date with severe weather events in the region. It can be found here.

We will post regular updates on our Council's Facebook page as well as on our website and email newsletters.

Also follow Waikato Civil Defence on Facebook here and check out their website for updates here.

To report a power outage contact your provider, however to get further information on power outages see Powerco's webiste.

For more on these channels, and other information about staying informed in emergencies, go to the Civil Defence "Never Happens" website.

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