Part of SH6 on West Coast reopens after slip, weather to 'ramp up'

Part of State Highway 6 has reopened under stop/go management after a slip was cleared following heavy rain on the West Coast.

Waka Kotahi said the highway had reopened between Haast and Fox Glacier, but remains closed between Franz Josef and Fox Glacier.

The transport agency warned SH6 from Franz Josef to Haast will close from 9pm tonight until 10am tomorrow due to the high risk of further slips and trees falling on the road.

It comes after up to 160mm of rain fell on the West Coast between 7pm last night and around 7am this morning.

The Waiho River, which was previously sitting at levels of 8m, led to some residents on its south side deciding to evacuate.

MetService meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane earlier told 1News some areas of the West Coast had seen 100-160mm of rain between 7pm last night and around 7am this morning.

However, there will be some reprieve today as while the forecaster is still expecting rain to fall it won't be as intense as the last 24 hours.

Makgabutlane said the period to watch is this evening into Thursday when a "second wave" of rain comes through. She said there will be a "ramping up of rainfall intensity".

Areas to keep an eye on are Southland and Clutha, along with Tasman on Thursday, Makgabutlane said.

She described the weather system as an "evolving" one and MetService's advice is for people to keep a close eye on the latest watches and warnings on its website.

The system will affect the upper half of the North Island late Thursday into Friday. There may be thunderstorms. Makgabutlane mentioned Taranaki, Taihape, inland Hawke's Bay and Gisborne, along with Auckland and Northland, as areas which are likely to be affected.

West Coast Emergency Management said NZ Energy Ltd had advised there are three power poles down due to the weather, affecting customers south of Hannah's Clearing.

"The outage could result in several days without power. The slips are hindering our capability to access and provide fault repairs to Haast. We are currently investigating contractors from Cromwell to assist where possible."

NZ Energy later said power was currently only out for customers south of Hannah's Clearing through to the end of the line at Jacksons Bay. Around 50 customers were affected.

"The damage has been caused by severe sea erosion washing away a section of power line.

"Repairs will be effected by the tide and further bad weather."

They said it's a "very isolated and challenging environment" to be working in, "but we have a very good team of staff and contractors working to get the damage repaired".

Westland Mayor Helen Lash said residents had "got through the night very well" despite a lot of rain.

"The rivers are sitting where they are, the next lot of rain is what will give us the potential for problems," she said.

"At this stage, everyone's quite comfortable. We do have a slip further south and the teams will be out now, and they'll hopefully have it open but if we get the rain tonight that is predicted we'd prefer people weren't travelling through the darkness of night," said Lash.

She said conversations were had in Franz Josef about the possibility of evacuations if people wanted to stay with others, but it was "still early days".

"It's a great community down there, they look out for one another and they've got this sorted."

Orange heavy rain warnings are in place for Mount Taranaki from 6pm tomorrow until 9am on Friday; Tasman northwest of Motueka from 6am tomorrow to 3am on Friday; Buller District south of Seddonville and northwest of Reefton from 6am to midnight tomorrow; Westland District south of Hokitika until 9pm tomorrow; headwaters of the Otago lakes and rivers from 11am today until 6pm tomorrow; Fiordland from 1pm today to 6pm tomorrow; Southland from 6am to midnight tomorrow; and the Bryant Range, also inland Marlborough west of Blenheim and north of the Awatere River, from 9am tomorrow to 6am on Friday.

A heavy rain watch is in place for Northland from 6pm tomorrow to 6am on Friday; Nelson Lakes, Buller District about and southeast of Reefton, Grey District, and Westland District about and north of Hokitika, from 3am tomorrow to 3am on Friday; and Clutha from 6am tomorrow to 2am on Friday.

A strong wind watch is in place for Taranaki south of the mountain, Taihape and the Whanganui Hill Country, from 3pm tomorrow to 6am on Friday; Buller District, Nelson/Tasman and Marlborough from 12pm tomorrow to 3am on Friday; Wellington from 6pm tomorrow to 6am on Friday; and Canterbury High Country from midnight tonight to 6pm tomorrow.