'Nobody made a decision': road closure calls unheeded in violent storm

<p>A South Westland farmer and councillor on the West Coast Regional Council wants better communication during storms, saying crucial communication with the New Zealand Transport Agency remains elusive.</p> <p><b>By Vihan Dalal for Local Democracy Reporting</b></p> <p>Andy Campbell told the council's Operations Committee meeting last week a lineman for Westpower had wanted to close State Highway 6 through to Whataroa during a fierce windstorm on July 6, but was unable to do so.</p> <p>Gale-force winds had already knocked down power-lines around Te Taho, near the Whataroa River gorge, and the local fire brigade reported that its firefighters were getting blown over by the strength of the wind.</p> <p>It was also the same day Associate Minister for Regional Development Mark Patterson was due to open the upgraded stopbanks on the south side of the Waiho (Waiau) River. The official function was cancelled due to the storm.</p> <p>Campbell said the lineman could not contact anyone in authority to ask about closing the road.</p> <p>"They had trouble getting hold of anybody to close the road. At 4 or 5 in the afternoon, there were campervans getting blown off the road ... Just could not get anybody to close the road."</p> <p>Other places on the West Coast were unaware of emergencies that took place in the more remote areas of the region.</p> <p>"We need to be able to communicate a bit better and that just proves that one small area of the West Coast is having an emergency and a lot of other places are unaware of it."</p> <p>Hari Hari Fire and Emergency NZ volunteer Shirley Black told Local Democracy Reporting she had called NZTA's transport operations in Wellington but they had been unable to help.</p> <p>"I did speak to them at one stage. They were full of sympathy but do nothing, which is not helpful when you are in that situation. It is hard to imagine what it is like when you are not here. You try to explain an emergency situation and somebody hundreds of miles away has no idea what you are talking about."</p> <p>She said the windstorm had begun early in the morning and was too strong for people to be on the road.</p> <p>"Being with FENZ, we were being called out to vehicles that were being blown over, and it just seemed to me that it was a situation where the road should be closed and people should be staying where they were."</p> <p>Black said she tried calling different agencies from two in the afternoon to get the road closed but did not hear back from them.</p> <p>"I tried from about 2 o'clock in the afternoon to get that to happen. It seemed to me that no one wanted to make that decision."</p> <p>The highway was finally closed at 6pm that day after she spoke to other local FENZ brigades on the West Coast.</p> <p>"The commander here on the Coast got on to it and I think he spoke to Civil Defence, the roading people and was able to make them aware of how serious the situation was," Black said.</p> <h2>'Situation better handled with road open' – NZTA</h2> <p>Responding today, an NZTA spokesman said State Highway 6 had been closed in the morning for three hours due to winds, but NZTA was requested to close the road later in the day due to risks to road users. Although a decision to close State Highway 6 was considered, it decided not to close the road because the situation could be handled better if it remained open.</p> <p>"NZTA, in discussion with its team/contractor on the ground on the West Coast, considered this, but the decision made at that time was not to close the road. This was based on NZTA's responsibilities and the view from the team/contractor that the situation could be best managed by keeping the road open.</p> <p>"While the wind posed a risk, it was only specific types of vehicles most exposed to this risk, such as higher-sided vehicles. NZTA's decision was conveyed at the time to the emergency services," the spokesman said.</p> <p>NZTA made its decisions on highway closures based on the travelling public and the best information available at the time.</p> <p>"Ultimately, NZTA makes its decisions about the need for any highway closures or restrictions based on its responsibilities to the travelling public and the best information available to it, including the advice of those on the ground."</p> <p>WCRC office of the chief executive group manager Jo Field said although the regional council was involved with responding to the emergency on July 6, responsibility lies with NZTA.</p> <p>Chris Coll asked whether the mayor of Westland could have declared a local emergency.</p> <p>Field said that was possible.</p> <p>"You can even declare for small areas, if you need to."</p> <p>Coll noted that one of the criteria for declaring an emergency was when local services couldn't cope with a weather event.</p> <p>Field said local services would need to inform Emergency Management (Civil Defence) of that scenario.</p> <p>"You need the local services to actually inform Emergency Management that they are not coping for that to happen, so it comes down to the communication with groups such as NZTA."</p> <p>Campbell said the chief fire officer at Hari Hari FENZ had also tried to get the State Highway closed but "did not have any luck".</p> <p>"They need to be able to get a hold of NZTA or whomever to get the traffic control out there."</p> <p>Coll said the local fire stations could instead contact the regional council, which could then declare an emergency through the mayor.</p> <p>"They contact council, and council, through the mayor, can declare if the threshold is reached."</p> <p>However, Campbell was adamant that local services needed to know who they can reach out to during storms.</p> <p><b>– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ on Air</b></p>