While Ruapehu District was spared the worst of Cyclone Gabrielle many of our neighbouring regions face a massive clean-up and repair list with a long recovery period ahead.

Emergency Management Officer Andy Chambers said that Cyclone Gabrielle has left widespread damage and impacts across the region to infrastructure and lifelines such as road and communications networks.

“There was more rain overnight in the worst impacted areas but this is not expected to increase flood risk.

Metservice is forecasting a strong, south to southwest flow over eastern New Zealand eases late Thursday and into Friday as a ridge spreads onto central New Zealand.

No severe weather watches or warnings are in force for Ruapehu District, he said.

Mr Chambers said that Ruapehu is now well into recovery mode with contractors being busy clearing up cyclone damage.

“There are still reports of some road outages but contractors are moving quickly to clear these.

People should continue to call in any issues or road outages to Council on 07 895 8188.

The Incident Control Point (ICP) set-up to monitor and respond to the cyclone has been stood down.

As things return to 'business as usual' we are actively looking at how Council can support our regional neighbours who have been badly affected.

People needing to travel out of the district should check road information on the Waka Kotahi NZTA journey planner www.journeys.nzta.govt.nz “

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