Fire and Emergency responds to wild weather - update

11.50pm April 11

Extremely strong winds and heavy rain has seen Fire and Emergency New Zealand receive more than 1300 111 calls in the past three hours.

It's received a total of 1350 111 calls since 8pm from people throughout the entire country.

Its Northern Communication Centre in particular has been inundated with calls due to the winds hitting the region, toppling trees, power lines and ripping roofs from houses.

It alone has received about 400 calls since 8pm, mainly about trees falling on roads and on houses and power lines.

Some calls also involve flooding.

Fire and Emergency's national manager for communication centres, Gavin Travers, says staff are working incredibly hard to handle calls as fast as possible.

"However, because of the sheer volume of the calls, some people calling us, whether to report damage or downed trees, may experience some delays, but we are working as hard as we can to respond as fast as possible."

Meanwhile, fire crews are continuing to battle a massive blaze at a mill in Matatoki, in the Thames-Coromandel district.

At least 20 fire trucks are at the scene, including crews from Thames, Ngatea and the Bay of Plenty.

ENDS

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