Weather and Roading Update #8 9:00am

Blue skies and sunshine in Whangamata this morning.

Thank you everyone for following us over the past few days while we faced the dregs of Cyclone Debbie.

The worst has passed and the weather warning has been lifted.

We are now experiencing some windy weather in areas, however nothing that reaches a MetService warning or watch.

Waikato Civil Defence have downgraded their activation level to monitoring mode and state if you need any specific information please use these links refer to their website www.waikatoregioncdemg.govt.nz or our How to keep up-to-date with what is happening section below.:

There are still various road closures and road works with stop/go traffic management in place across the Coromandel and unfortunately we still have on-going road closures.

NZTA advise “expect delays or avoid the areas if possible”.

Here is the situation at 9am:

Local road Closures:

• Tapu-Coroglen - closed due to a slip.
•
• Black Jack Road is open to one lane at approx 1km from SH25 (Kuaotunu side of Blackjack Road Hill) .
•
• Sailors Grave Road - Open to one lane 100m south of turnoff on ocean side where a slip has undermined the road - caution is required.
•
• Colville Road open to one lane 1.5km after Papa Aroha motor camp
•
• Port Charles Road - open to one lane.
•
• Waiomu Valley Rd Ford - open to 4 x 4 vehicles only.
•
• Te Kouma Rd- open to one lane.
•
• Wentworth Valley Rd, Whangamata - There is a tree down on Wentworth Valley Rd blocking the road. There are powerlines wrapped around the tree so this may take a bit of time to clear while we wait for contractors to get to the site.
•
No other District roads are reported closed.

State Highway network:

• SH25 between Thames and Kereta- due to multiple slips in this area, the road is closed.
•
• SH25A Thames To SH25 Junction- due to a slip along this section of the State Highway, the eastbound lane is blocked. Contractors are onsite providing stop/go traffic management. Expect delays or avoid the area if possible.
•
• SH25 near to Sailors Grave Road, Pumpkin Hill- due to a washout on this section of the State Highway, stop/go traffic management is now in place. Expect delays or avoid the area if possible.
•
• SH25 2km South Of Blackjack Rd, Kuaotunu - due to a large slip on this section of State Highway the road is closed until further notice.
•
• We also have an unconfirmed report that here is a slip covering both sides of the Kuaotunu Hill (SH25)- NZTA will follow up as soon as possible.
•
For State Highway updates (including Thames Coast Road and Kopu-Hikuai Road) see the NZTA website and follow NZTA Waikato BoP on Facebook.

School closures: We have only had confirmation that Coromandel Area School is closed today. Please see the Ministry of Education website here for further details as other schools in the Waikato are registered as closed. However, this has not been updated this morning so your best option would be to contact your school.

Kerbside: blue bag rubbish collections couldn’t take place yesterday in Coromandel Town, so have been rescheduled for Saturday. Please have your blue bags out on the kerb by 7:30am, please. See www.tcdc.govt.nz/kerbside for the full district Kerbside schedule.

Tide Times:

Thames: Thursday 6 April - High 15:10 3.6m

Whitianga: Thursday 6 April - High 15:06 2.0m

River Levels:

To check current levels see the Waikato Regional Council website www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/services/regional-services/river-levels-and-rainfall

How to keep up-to-date with what is happening

Severe weather warnings and watches have been issued for most of New Zealand this week.

Check www.metservice.com/warnings/home or follow MetService on Facebook here to stay up-to-date.

For weather alerts and information on how to prepare for emergencies download the NZ Red Cross Hazard App.

The Red Cross Hazards app is available from:
App store for iOS devices
Google Play store for Android devices

Check our Council's home page for news updates and alerts, follow our Facebook page and subscribe to our email newsletters and Twitter feed @OurCoromandel.

If you don't have a smartphone or other mobile device, or don't use the internet, organise someone who does to call you and vice-versa. Think about elderly neighbours, family and friends who are perhaps on their own and may need support.

For State Highway roading updates (SH25 and SH25A on the Coromandel) NZTA offer real time traffic and travel information emailed directly to you letting you know if there's a significant hold up or need for caution on the State Highway you travel on. You can register your route here onthemove.govt.nz or for general updates follow NZTA Waikato on Facebook and see their website here.

ends