Workers brought in from outer regions to restore power and road access ahead of more bad weather expected over the next few days. (Source: 1News)
As the heavy rain continues on the West Coast, linesmen have been deployed from Cromwell along with a digger to help restore power to areas hit by the severe weather.
As part of preparations, Fire and Emergency New Zealand has also deployed 15 members of specialist teams to Franz Josef.
Areas south of Hannahs Clearing, including Arawhata, Jackson Bay, and Neils Beach were without power due to three poles being brought down.
Power outages were expected to last for several days, according to West Coast Emergency Management.
Sandbags dropped for residents to protect their homes
Sandbagging efforts were swinging into action in Hokitka ahead of anticipated floodwaters.
Westroads in Hokitika deposited sandbags at the corners of Stafford and Sewells streets, Hamilton and Tancred streets, Tancred and Weld streets, and Weld and Sewellstreets to residents to use to protect their homes and businesses from surface flooding.
Westland Emergency Management activated its Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) at 7am this morning in response to the severe weather event affecting the South Westland area.
Te Aroha Cook, group controller of West Coast Emergency Management advised services were working closely with the communities across the district to pre-position staff and equipment into the South Westland Area.
"The EOC will be staffed 24 hours a day over the next few days to monitor the situation and assist the community where it’s needed.”
MetService was anticipating the heavy rain to last several days throughout the Westland and Buller Districts.
Westland EOC will be working with MetService to provide on-the-ground updates for accurate information to keep the community informed.
People were being urged to stay home and avoid any unnecessary travel, and to evacuate early if they had any concerns.
They could stay up-to-date by visiting the West Coast Emergency Management Facebook page or by listening to the radio news.
FENZ moves resources
Fire and Emergency has sent extra resources to the West Coast from Canterbury as part of preparations for the weather event.
On Tuesday, a six-person taskforce of firefighters from the Sefton and Rangiora Volunteer Fire Brigades were deployed to Franz Josef and on Wednesday they were repositioned at Fox Glacier.
They had a four-wheel drive appliance and would be able to provide support to the community and local brigades.
Also on Wednesday, FENZ deployed 15 members of specialist teams to Franz Josef.
"Eight are members of the Specialist Water Response Team and they will be available for any activities involving water, including rescues," said a spokesperson.
The other seven were members of Fire and Emergency’s Urban Search and Rescue team.
"Their primary task will be rapid damage assessments, but they are also trained and equipped for search and rescue.
"An Assistant Commander and a Volunteer Support Officer have been deployed to Westland.
Slow-moving rain event to shift north
"Our Region Coordination Centre in Christchurch has been fully activated since [Tuesday] to coordinate and support the deployments and manage any other requests.
"The slow-moving severe rain event is forecast to shift north to Nelson Tasman on Thursday and then on to the North Island on Friday where heavy rain is predicted for parts of Northland and Coromandel.
"Contingency plans are in place to provide extra support for other areas if needed, based on the rainfall predictions. This includes providing extra resources from other parts of the country."
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