Radio New Zealand
Auckland, January 9, 2018
Coastal Thames locals, frustrated with the response after last week’s storm brought flooding, have brought their complaints to Civil Defence Minister Kris Faafoi.
Mr Faafoi was visiting the area after the storm left the Thames Coromandel Road severely damaged and properties flooded throughout the region.
Power outages
At a meeting with locals in Te Puru this morning, many voiced frustrations about power outages and poor communication from officials.
The storm initially left about 9000 customers in the Tauranga, Thames Valley and Coromandel areas without electricity.
One man blamed poor communication from Civil Defence and warnings they had had were either inaccurate or nonexistent, and updates from NZTA were often late or conflicting.
He and another local also voiced frustration that Powerco had turned off the power “unnecessarily” eight hours after the damage was done for 24 hours.
Room for improvement
However, Mr Faafoi said that he was happy with the response.
“I think there is always some room for improvement in these situations, but I think if you speak to the community, they are happy with how things are. You must also remember this is a busy time for the Coromandel, they received lot of visitors, and you saw this community of Te Puru also played host to a number of tourists who found themselves stranded here so on the whole I think it’s a pretty good response,” he said.
Mr Faafoi also said that his visit today would inform what response the government would take.
Highway damage
Mr Faafoi said there had been some superb work done on the highway to get it back open.
Trucks and other heavy vehicles are being asked to avoid the Thames Coastal Road in Coromandel as crews work to repair storm damage.
The Transport Agency said that there was extensive damage to 42 kms of highway between Thames and Manaia.
The road was later reopened to north and southbound traffic, but vehicles must be escorted in convoys and long delays are expected.
The agency said heavy vehicles should travel via Tairua around State Highway 25 to make sure the road was not damaged further.
By Special Arrangement with Radio New Zealand.
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