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April 2017 flood event - rivers, roads, and towns

April 04, 2017

Note: This Public Notice is out of date, and is retained for archival purposes only.

State of Emergency Lifted - 6 April 2017

Rangitikei District Council lifted the state of emergency at 8.30am on Thursday, 6 April, following receding river levels and no significant rainfall overnight. Rivers are returning to normal levels.

Sandbags have been removed from central Marton and all cordons are now clear.

Mayor Andy Watson said “my thanks go out to the Council team, many of whom worked extraordinary long hours as part of our response to this rainfall event.

Also a... special thanks to the number of volunteers that helped with sand bagging, door knocking and all other things associated with this type of event. Early indications led us to believe we could have been severely impacted in central Marton with our river catchments - thankfully it didn’t play out that way”.

There are no known residual impacts and no recovery issues expected.

All schools across the Rangitikei District will reopen on Thursday, 6 April.

Johnston road is now open.

Rain Event - Update at 7:00pm Wednesday 5 April 2017

We are not expecting any further issues overnight from the recent rain event. We are standing down on our communications with you tonight and will be back on board tomorrow morning.

All schools across the Rangitikei District will reopen on Thursday, 6 April.

All roads into Marton are open.

RIVERS

Metservice and Horizons Regional Council have revised the predicted river levels throughout:

    • Whangaehu river at Kaunangaroa is expected to peak at 9.1 metres at about 7:30am, Thursday, 6 April
    • Turakina river is expected to peak at 7.5 metres at 12noon, Thursday, 6 April
    • Tutaenui stream is not expected to reach dangerous levels
    • We are NOT expecting the Rangitikei river to cause any issues.

ROADS

    • All but one of the roads in and around Marton, including the state highways are open, Johnston Road (beside Huntly School in Marton) is closed due to a blocked culvert but should be cleared during the morning on Thursday, 6 April
    • There are minor slips throughout the District so drivers are asked to take care when travelling
    • Cordons have been removed around Central Marton.

TOWNS

  • Marton: All businesses are open. All Schools across Rangitikei will reopen on Thursday, 6 April.
  • Bulls: No current issues
  • Whangaehu: No current issues
  • Turakina: No current issues
  • Koitiata: No current issues
  • Taihape, Hunterville, and Mangaweka: we do NOT expect these areas will be affected by flooding

The Council will provide updates as they become available. Anyone who is concerned about themselves or their property please contact the Council on 0800 422 522.

RUBBISH COLLECTION

Rubbish Collection for the Rangitikei area is going ahead as normal Thursday 6th April and Friday 7th April 2017.

TREAT FLOODWATERS AS CONTAMINATED

Rangitīkei District Council advises that there is a possibility of floodwaters being contaminated with untreated sewage. Please treat all floodwaters as contaminated. Avoid contact wherever possible. If contact cannot be avoided, wash exposed areas such as hands and face afterwards.

FURTHER INFORMATION

  • State Highway information: http://www.nzta.govt.nz/traffic/
  • River information: https://www.horizons.govt.nz/news
  • Rangitikei District Council Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RangitikeiDC/