West Coast Civil Defence Emergency Management Group continues to monitor the heavy rain event affecting the region.

SH 6 Fox Glacier to Haast is now closed at Knights Point with an update due tomorrow Friday 6th December at 12pm.

West Coast Civil Defence advises people to keep up to date on state highway status on the NZTA site: https://www.journeys.nzta.govt.nz/traffic

On top of the rain the Coast has already received, it is possible that there will be further disruptions due to flooding and slips in the region and MetService have issued another heavy rain warning for Westland south of Otira.

https://www.metservice.com

The West Coast Emergency Management Group has supported monitoring levels in Emergency Operation Centres in both Buller and Westland Districts this week. This involves working with local council teams and community volunteers as well as other agencies and emergency services.

Meetings have held today with local agencies to ensure we are ready to respond going into Friday and possibly the weekend, with a particular focus on the Westland district.

“We have already seen areas where people have had travel plans disrupted due to road closures and detours. The Haast community looked after several car loads of travellers who were unable to continue their journey until the road opened again this morning.” said Claire Brown, Regional Director of the West Coast Civil Defence Emergency Management Group . “The region is soaked so we need to be ready to respond if required”.

© Scoop Media