Emergency status Southland remains under a state of local emergency following the severe winds on Thursday 23 October. At this stage, the state of emergency will terminate on Friday 7 November unless extended. Today’s focus Safety of our communities continues to be our biggest concern. Parks & safety:  Many parks, reserves, cemeteries and playgrounds in Invercargill, Bluff, and the Southland District remain closed. Parks and playgrounds in Gore are open. Closed areas are closed for a reason – they are dangerous and by entering you put yourself and potentially our emergency responders at risk if you need their assistance. Do not collect firewood or enter storm-affected sites. Wood from fallen trees in parks will be made available when it is safe to do so. Trees & debris:  Councils are continuing to assess the scale of damage. Southland District Council had six arborists assessing trees today. Estimated 15,000 tree sites to assess. So far over 5000 have been deemed safe, with around 129 needing some work and 16 deemed dangerous requiring immediate attention.  The arboretum in Otautau remains closed.  All parks and reserves in Winton are now officially open. Invercargill City Council estimates over 1000 trees potentially damaged and clean-up still needed on a number of parks and reserves. The council is preparing for a free green waste and scrap metal drop-off as soon as it can set it up safely. Guy Fawkes safety Take care with fireworks this Guy Fawkes. All of Southland is still in a state of emergency following the recent severe wind event. The last thing we need is a spate of fires causing more devastation and drawing emergency staff and volunteers away from the storm response. Check out the great tips for a safe and fun Guy Fawkes on the Fire & Emergency Facebook page. Welfare support Remember to check on whānau, friends, and neighbours — especially those needing extra help. This is very important as fatigue starts to set in. Community hubs across Southland remain open for power, Wi-Fi, and showers. Southland Rural Support Trust has been taking calls from farmers and growers impacted by the weather events last week and this service is available by calling 0800 787 254 for a confidential chat. Welfare support: 0800 890 127 (available 9am–3pm) | [email protected] Mental health support (24/7): Call or text 1737  Power Outages: 48 in Southland and 67 in South Otago remain without power. PowerNet chief executive Paul Blue acknowledged the response from the public - “Your patience and your kindness to our crews has been nothing short of outstanding.” If you have previously submitted a form on the PowerNet website BEFORE power was restored to your general area, and your neighbours have power on but you don’t, please fill out another form or call PowerNet on 0800 808 587. There will be additional outages throughout the networks while they identify what needs to happen to reconnect outstanding outages. If your power goes off again and doesn’t come back on after four hours, give PowerNet a call on 0800 808 587. If there is obvious damage to the service line within your boundary, please contact an electrician to look at this for you. It may not resolve your power issues but it will ensure your property is ready to be reconnected when they get there to fix any other problems. Community BBQs A community BBQ is being hosted at Woodend on Friday 7 November by Rural Support Trust, Emergency Management Southland, DairyNZ & others. Keep an eye on Southland Rural Support Trust on Facebook. 

The Invercargill City Council had its first meeting of the new term yesterday (4 Nov) and confirmed the appointments to its various committees.The city’s new Mayor, Tom Campbell, and returning elected members Steve Broad, Alex Crackett, Grant Dermody, Trish Boyle, Ria Bond, Darren Ludlow, Ian Pottinger, Allan Arnold, and Barry Stewart were joined by new Councillors Andrea de Vries and Lisa Tou-McNaughton, as well as Marcus Lush, who served as an Invercargill City Councillor between 2021 and 2022.Mayor Campbell said he was looking forward to getting to work alongside all elected members.“There’s an interesting mix of experience and fresh thinking around the Council table, and we’re all focused on keeping things moving in a positive, thriving direction,” he said.“I look forward to standing alongside all of our Councillors, and ensuring the community we serve is at the centre of our decision-making.”Appointments confirmed at the meeting included:Councillor Grant Dermody – Deputy Mayor; Chairperson, Water Committee; Portfolio, Te Unua Museum of Southland; Council representative, Bluff Community BoardCouncillor Alex Crackett – Chairperson, Infrastructure and Growth Committee; Portfolio, Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ)Councillor Darren Ludlow – Chairperson, Community and Regulatory CommitteeCouncillor Trish Boyle – Chairperson, Risk and Assurance CommitteeAn external chairperson for the Risk and Assurance Committee, Ross Jackson, was also appointed by elected members.

Comments:No travel delays expected today.Weather forecast for the Homer Tunnel area:Today: Cloudy, rain in evening Tomorrow: Rain easing to showers Friday: Showers then rain Saturday: Rain easing Sunday: Showers then rain

The new chair of Environment Southland has promised both collaboration and transparency in his maiden speech.On Tuesday, fourth-term councillor Jeremy McPhail was appointed chair of the regional council in a unanimous decision by elected members.McPhail served as deputy to former chair Nicol Horrell last term, and his claim on the top job did not appear to come as a complete surprise.In a prepared speech, he said he was humbled by the confidence his fellow councillors had shown in him.“As a farmer myself, I understand the practical challenges our rural sector faces, and I also know how deeply our communities value the environment we all depend on,” he said.“The strength of Southland lies in our ability to work together, to have open conversations, and to find balanced, practical solutions that protect both our environment and our livelihoods.”McPhail said the council would continue to work closely with iwi partners, local councils, industry and community groups.“Together we can continue to make progress on the issues that matter most, improving water quality, building resilience to climate change . . . and supporting sustainable land use across our region."Second-termer Phil Morrison was selected as McPhail's deputy by unanimous decision, but committee structures and positions would not be decided until next month.The first meeting of the term saw four new members officially join the council's ranks — Roger Hodson, Ewan Mathieson, David Rose and Geoffrey Young.Former councillors who did not seek re-election included Horrell, Robert Guyton and Neville Cook; Peter McDonald stood for the Hokonui Constituency but was ousted by Rose.At other Southland councils, district mayor Rob Scott selected Christine Menzies as his deputy, while Invercargill mayor Tom Campbell chose Grant Dermody as his offsider.LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air

Mana whenua representative roles have been given the green light at Invercargill City Council following a vote at the inaugural meeting.Introduced in 2021, the arrangement allows one representative from each of the city’s two rūnaka to be internally selected and put forward to council.Mayor Tom Campbell said the proposal this time around was for the representatives to sit on every council committee which was a “fairly significant increase in their involvement”, but one which mirrored councillors'.Council manager governance and legal Michael Morris said no names had yet been given from rūnaka partners as the process was still being worked through.The positions have been held by Rev Evelyn Cook (Waihōpai Rūnaka) who gave an impassioned valedictory speech on its challenges, and Pania Coote (Te Rūnanga o Awarua) who unsuccessfully ran for the council this election. Both still hold the positions until appointees are decided for the upcoming term.Cook was present at Tuesday’s meeting and responded to an issue raised by councillor Ria Bond about engagement with Ngā Matawaka — Māori living in Murihiku/Southland who were not Ngāi Tahu.Bond said there was a “tricky situation” where Matawaka had to seek leadership underneath mana whenua, which was adding to internal relationship conflict.“Coming around and being around the Matawaka, different iwi down here, it’s quite prevalent that they are wanting quite a bit of engagement, but to feel like they are there on their own mana, not under anyone else's.”It was important their voices were heard and engaged with at council, Bond said.Cook said engagement was not as successful as hoped, but acknowledged it was a two-way street.An opportunity had been missed appointing deputy mayor Grant Dermody to an iwi liaison group instead of Bond, she added.The decision to continue with the representative roles was widely supported on Tuesday, bar an objection from councillor Barry Stewart who has previously taken exception with the use of Te Reo Māori.Mana whenua representatives are able to vote at committee level, but legislation prevents them doing so at full council because they are unelected.The positions are voted on at the start of each term because they are not statutory appointments, a council report explained.Their honorarium is set to be discussed at a meeting on 11 November where councillor pay will also be decided.LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air

Just over 300 people across Southland and South Otago remain without power since last month's damaging winds.PowerNet said at its peak, more than 25,000 people lost power.Both Southland and Clutha remain under a state of emergency with work underway to assess the scale of the damage, provide welfare support, fix damage and clean up.PowerNet chief executive Paul Blue said it was encouraging to see numbers drop so significantly, but the company had not forgotten some customers had not had electricity for 13 days."Your patience and your kindness to our crews has been nothing short of outstanding," he said.PowerNet had received hundreds of fault reports and were cross-checking them with what field crews were seeing on the ground, Blue said."We're now in what we call the 'tail' of the response. It can be challenging to pinpoint where the last of our faults are, or the causes of those faults."Rest assured we are still pushing hard to get to each of you, to understand what's required, and to get your power restored safely."As of 2.30pm on Tuesday, 115 customers in Southland and 205 people in South Otago did not have power.Community hubs remain open across Southland and parts of South Otago.Emergency Management Southland said many parks, reserves, cemeteries and playgrounds in Invercargill, Bluff, and the Southland District remained closed."These areas are closed for a reason - they are dangerous and by entering you put yourself and potentially our emergency responders at risk if you need their assistance," a spokesperson said.Southland District Council had an estimated 15,000 trees to assess with more than 1000 deemed safe and another 60 needing some work.Invercargill City Council estimated more than 1000 trees were potentially damaged and many parks and reserves needed a clean-up.Emergency Management Southland said people should not collect firewood or enter storm-affected areas as wood from fallen trees in parks would be made available when it was safe.The state of emergency is due to lapse on Friday.A community BBQ will be held at Woodend on Friday, hosted by Rural Support Trust, Emergency Management Southland, DairyNZ and others.Published by Permission

Emergency status Southland remains under a state of local emergency following the severe winds on Thursday 23 October. At this stage, the state of emergency will lapse on Friday 7 November unless extended. Today’s focus Safety of our communities continues to be our biggest concern. Parks & safety:  Many parks, reserves, cemeteries and playgrounds in Invercargill, Bluff, and the Southland District remain closed. Parks and playgrounds in Gore are open. These areas are closed for a reason – they are dangerous and by entering you put yourself and potentially our emergency responders at risk if you need their assistance. Do not collect firewood or enter storm-affected sites. Wood from fallen trees in parks will be made available when it is safe to do so. Trees & debris:  Councils are continuing to assess the scale of damage. Southland District Council had six arborists assessing trees today. Estimated 15,000 trees to assess. So far over 1000 have been deemed safe, with around 60 needing some work.  Invercargill City Council estimating over 1000 trees potentially damaged and clean-up still needed on a number of parks and reserves. The council is preparing for a free green waste and scrap metal drop-off as soon as it can set it up safely. Welfare support Remember to check on whānau, friends, and neighbours — especially those needing extra help. This is very important as fatigue starts to set in. Community hubs across Southland remain open for power, Wi-Fi, and showers. Southland Rural Support Trust have been taking calls from farmers and growers impacted by the weather events last week and this service is available by calling 0800 787 254 for a confidential chat. Welfare support: 0800 890 127 (available 9am–3pm) | [email protected] Mental health support (24/7): Call or text 1737 | 1737.org.nz Power Outages: 115 in Southland and 205 in South Otago remain without power. PowerNet chief executive Paul Blue acknowledged the response from the public - “Your patience and your kindness to our crews has been nothing short of outstanding.” If you have previously submitted a form on the PowerNet website BEFORE power was restored to your general area, and your neighbours have power on but you don’t, please fill out another form or call PowerNet on 0800 808 587. There will be additional outages throughout the networks while they identify what needs to happen to reconnect outstanding outages. If your power goes off again and doesn’t come back on after four hours, give PowerNet a call on 0800 808 587. If there is obvious damage to the service line within your boundary, please contact an electrician to look at this for you. It may not resolve your power issues but it will ensure your property is ready to be reconnected when they get there to fix any other problems. Community BBQs A community BBQ is being hosted at Woodend on Friday 7 November - hosted by Rural Support Trust, Emergency Management Southland, DairyNZ & others. Keep an eye on Southland Rural Support Trust on Facebook.   

The New Zealand Defence Force has unveiled a new home for its Otago and Southland units, with the transformation of Dunedin's former Farmlands building on Cumberland Street into a modern Defence facility.The move marks the end of an era for the Kensington Army Hall, which will close its doors for the final time on Saturday (8 Nov) after more than a century of continuous service to Dunedin and the wider region.A short farewell ceremony will be held that day, with soldiers from the 2nd/4th Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment — particularly members of Otago & Southland Company — marching out of the historic hall one last time.The event is expected to be a poignant moment for many, as the building has long served as a cornerstone of military life in the region.To mark the opening of the new facility, the battalion will lead a Charter and Remembrance Parade at Queen’s Gardens on Sunday (9 Nov), followed by a ceremonial march to the new site.Commanding Officer of the 2nd/4th Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Gareth Seeds, will also be attending the official opening.The Dunedin Defence Facility will bring together all of the NZDF’s local units, including Army Reserves, Navy Reserves, Defence Recruiting, and Sea Cadets from HMNZS Toroa, along with various Army and Air Cadet detachments.It is also expected to serve as a community hub for those interested in exploring careers in the Navy, Army, or Air Force.

Kew Bush Restoration and Education Programme was named the Environmental Action in the Community winner at this year's Environment Southland Community Awards held at Ascot Park Hotel on 3rd October.Kew Bush is 3.3 hectares of native bush and trails located on the grounds of Southland Hospital. The bush is a remnant of Southland's once widespread Kahikatea forests which thrived across the southern plains before pastoral activities.The programme also involves students from Southern Institute of Technology's (SIT) Bachelor of Environmental Management course.SIT Environmental Management Tutor, Jordon Traill, said the School of Environmental Management (EM) had taken its students on excursions and working bees to Kew Bush for years and it was now part of their curriculum.It provides a great example of old-growth remnant forest as well as a successful restoration programme, he said.“The forest is like stepping back in time; it’s our natural history.""Kew Bush was looking pretty overrun by pests and degraded before the Friends of Kew Bush [lead by Alan McPherson] did something about it in the 1990s.When the Friends of Kew Bush were looking for people to step up and help, Traill said it was an easy choice for the EM school to take on more of a central role in the project.“That’s how the Kew Bush Restoration and Education programme got started.”“Our students have been doing the trapping, weeding and planting as community members.”Environment Southland also provided funding, through the Enhanced Environment Fund, as well as expert advice from Catriona Gower, he said.Traill admitted gaining recognition for the Kew Bush project had come as a shock.“The groups who were in the same category were doing amazing work; to win the award was a big surprise for our group – none of us had prepared a speech.”The councillors who chose the awardees mentioned the positive partnership and succession planning.“They noted that seeing a project passed down to a new generation was great to see.""It was a very inspiring event and a showcase of the hard work so many people do to improve the environment in Murihiku,” Traill said.

Emergency status Southland remains under a state of local emergency following the severe winds on Thursday 23 October. Southland Mayor Rob Scott extended the declaration on the advice of Emergency Management Southland, ensuring continued powers to coordinate response efforts. At this stage, the state of emergency is in place until Friday 7 November. Today’s focus Parks & safety: Most parks, reserves, cemeteries and playgrounds in Invercargill, Bluff, and the Southland District remain closed. These areas are closed for a reason – they are dangerous and by entering you put yourself and potentially our emergency responders at risk if you need their assistance. Do not collect firewood or enter storm-affected sites. Wood from fallen trees in parks will be made available when it is safe to do so. Trees & debris: Councils are continuing to assess the scale of damage and managing waste, especially green waste. There is ongoing concern for people cleaning up their properties and ensuring they do this safely and without injury. In rural Southland, creating a green waste pile with fallen branches and trees is a good option. At this stage they’ll be too wet to burn. Welfare support Remember to check on whānau, friends, and neighbours — especially those needing extra help. This is very important as fatigue starts to set in. Community hubs across Southland remain open for power, Wi-Fi, and showers. Southland Rural Support Trust have been taking calls from farmers and growers impacted by the weather events last week and this service is available by calling 0800 787 254 for a confidential chat. Welfare support: 0800 890 127 (available 9am–3pm) | [email protected] health support (24/7): Call or text 1737 | 1737.org.nz Power Outages: 260 in Southland and 421 in South Otago remain without power. If you have previously submitted a form on the PowerNet website BEFORE power was restored to your general area, and your neighbours have power on but you don’t, please fill out another form or call PowerNet on 0800 808 587. There will be additional outages throughout the networks while they identify what needs to happen to reconnect outstanding outages. If your power goes off again and doesn’t come back on after four hours, give PowerNet a call on 0800 808 587. If there is obvious damage to the service line within your boundary, please contact an electrician to look at this for you. It may not resolve your power issues but it will ensure your property is ready to be reconnected when they get there to fix any other problems. Community BBQs More community BBQs are being planned - hosted by Rural Support Trust, Emergency Management Southland, DairyNZ & others. Keep an eye on Southland Rural Support Trust on Facebook. 

Important maintenance for State Highway 1/Balclutha Bridge, and for nearby Gormack Street in Balclutha, will mean traffic restrictions from this weekend. The bridge is scheduled to be closed from 9pm on both Sunday 9 November and Monday 10 November, reopening at 5am the day after. During these closures, the bridge will reopen on the hour, every hour, to allow queued traffic to pass while crews excavate sections of the road surface and replace them with new asphalt. In addition, work will take place on Gormack Street between 5pm and 9pm on the same nights, where crews will complete asphalt repairs under a single lane closure on Gormack Street, with a lane shift on SH1/Essex Street. Temporary speed restrictions and side road closures will also be in place throughout the duration of this work. Road users should plan their evening travel accordingly and allow extra time for potential delays.During the daytime there will be uneven surfaces and temporary speed limits. We thank people for their patience and understanding. Weather conditions and other requirements may delay the start and duration of this work. If this happens, we will give notice of the change. Stay up to date at our Journey Planner site.

Rural Southland communities are banding together in the aftermath of last month's damaging winds.The severe winds caused widespread damage and thousands of power outages, downing trees, power lines and tearing roofs off buildings.PowerNet said outages have dropped below 2000 across Southland and South Otago after power was restored to more communities, dairy farms, cell towers and water sites over the weekend.Rural Women NZ South Island national board member Sharron Davie-Martin said there was a long road to recovery.One dairy farming family had lost two cow sheds, several hay barns and two staff houses, forcing them to take walk hundreds of cows long distances to be milked at other farms that had generators, she said.But many were pitching in to help.A house in Milton, Otago, had its roof ripped off in wild weather. Photo: RNZ/ Calvin SamuelRural women were taking smoko to those working to restore services as a thank you for their work, while others distributed generators, Davie-Martin said.Rural families had the tendency to knuckle down and not ask for help as they thought others needed it more, but she hoped an incoming batch of fruit cakes from members further north might help people to open."That will be an excuse to go up a driveway and drop off a fruit cake and say 'how are you doing?', and it's when you get asked that you might show the cracks," she said."You might not go out looking for it so even though it doesn't sound like much, taking a fruit cake up the driveway, it's really important connection to help people."Two refrigerated trucks lay on their sides after toppling on an exposed part of SH1 just outside of Balclutha. Photo: RNZ/ Calvin SamuelAn AirBNB owner told her that some people down the road had no power for five days so she and other owners had opened their accommodation up for the community."They hadn't been able to shower or charge their phones, just those simple little things that you don't think about when you're not in it," Davie-Martin said.It was a chance for them to charge their phones, have a shower, cook a meal and have a break from the disaster, she said.Rural Women NZ has an Adverse Events Relief Fund that offers financial support to rural people, families and groups who have an urgent need due to personal hardship.It is funded by donations and the fund is open to anyone who meets the criteria."If you're struggling a bit as it is and this sort of thing happens, it really can tip you over financially," Davie-Martin said.The applications could be for something as simple as putting food in the pantry, counselling, replacing freezer food that had gone off after prolonged power outages, or a group wanting to organise a community BBQ, she said."There is help out there if they'd like it."A survey has been going out to farmers so they can self-assess and organisations know who may need support.Published by Permission

What do a volunteer fireman, an outstanding drummer, a NZ Champion Discus thrower and one our best College leaders ever have in common?The answer is, they are the same person – Bohdi Trevor-Smith. Bohdi’s exceptionally visible leadership style is an inspiration for our younger students.Bodhi Trevor-Smith. Photo: Vanessa Adcock Photography.Whether he’s drumming for the school band, supporting our sports teams or teaching our students how to throw a discus and shot put, he’ll do it with real passion, care and motivation.Bohdi’s biggest success so far was winning the NZ under 18 discus title at the NZ Athletics Champs this year where he also placed in the shot put.He then repeated this at the South Island Secondary Schools Champs.Ray White Te Anau, Shannelle Scott proud sponsor of Fiordland College.Bohdi has a desire to help others and contribute to his community.There is no better example than the moments where Bohdi can be seen sprinting from the classroom so he can be in the firetruck and attend whatever emergency that is happening in our community, making him an effective and valued volunteer firefighter..Bohdi effortlessly weaves our school values – Respect, Integrity, Curiosity and Effort – into everything he does, making him an inspiring and highly respected member of the Fiordland College community

ILT’s board held their first meeting of the new triennium on Thursday 30 October, at ILT Head Office.Incumbent members Paddy O’Brien, Suzanne Prentice, Angela Newell, Graham Hawkes and Sheree Carey, were joined by newly elected member Nick Jeffrey.Paddy O’Brien was unanimously reappointed as the President of ILT, while Suzanne Prentice was elected as Deputy President, following a nomination from long standing board member Angela Newell.ILT President Mr O’Brien said he was proud to continue leading the organisation following his reappointment.“I really appreciate the vote of confidence the board has shown in me,” he said.“The past three years have been a privilege, working alongside such a motivated CEO and Executive team whose commitment and enthusiasm flow through to the 700 people who make up the ILT family.”He acknowledged the ongoing economic challenges but said ILT remained in a strong position.“It’s not easy in the current cost-of-living environment, but when times are tough opportunities present themselves, and we need to be ready to capitalise,” he said.He said ILT’s model continued to demonstrate its value through the level of donation returned the community.“We’re proud to have maintained circa nine million dollars in donation and grants annually.""The strength of ILT lies in the ongoing support of our community.""By choosing to dine in our restaurants, stay at our hotels and motels, and celebrate in our bars, you play a direct role in enabling us to give back,” said O’Brien.He also welcomed new board member Nick Jeffrey, saying, “I’m excited to have Nick join the board, and I know he’ll bring a wealth of experience from his work within the community.”Looking ahead, he said the board would undertake a review of its strategic plan in early 2026 and remain focused on supporting the community through ongoing donations.

Road OpenLow Avalanche HazardComments:No travel delays expected today.Weather forecast for the Homer Tunnel area:Today: Mainly fine Tomorrow: Rain at times Wednesday: Showers Thursday: Rain Friday: Cloudy

Residents in rural Southland and Otago have been urged to get in touch with PowerNet, if they remain without power.The latest figures show 12,090 homes remain without power in Southland and 1100 in Otago, with 630 restored on Saturday.The South Island was battered by severe winds that tore roofs of buildings, downed trees, and toppled and twisted infrastructure like power lines, irrigators and water tanks.A state of emergency remains in place for Clutha and Southland.PowerNet said substantial damage had occurred to the electricity infrastructure, mainly from falling trees.Chief executive Paul Blue said people living in remote areas should contact the company."We have access to smart meters in the Southland area, but not so much the Otago area, so there are some areas we can't see if the power is on or off."If you don't have power, we're asking to please get in contact - we don't want anyone sitting there without power needlessly."We are at that stage where we really are collecting the information of those who don't have power, so we can sort it out."A fallen tree on top of a garage after severe South Island winds. Photo: RNZ / Andrew JohnstoneBlue said getting power restored to rural areas would take longer."The majority of the outages are in the rural areas, which were the hardest hit, where the repairs to individual homes are the bits that are taking longer. Any of the urban areas are generally back on. "Blue said the storm was significant."It wasn't expected, the ferocity of it, and probably what made this one so much bigger is that it hit all of Southland and then into Otago. I mean, also it hit up into Canterbury as well, so it was the sheer scale of this one, with such strong winds that took out so many trees,"Most of the outages that we are dealing with are because of trees into lines."Anyone who would like to report an outage can do so by completing the online form at www.powernet.co.nz or giving PowerNet a call on 0800 808 587.Published by permission

For pioneering Dacre dairy farmer Bruce Dinnington, who runs a robotic milking shed, the biggest issue was water.“We coped fine. We have a diesel generator in the cow shed here anyway – six milking robots for 650 cows,” he says.“All robotic farmers have back up generators.""Our big issue has been water,” he says.The bore was situated near his old cow shed on the farm, 800m away.“That lasted 24 hours before we ran out, I tried to buy water.""Water carriers were working 24 hours a day as it was so difficult to keep up.”Their power was restored last Friday night then by mid Saturday morning it went off again.“They couldn’t find the fault and said they’d be back when they had spare time to find it.”Bruce Dinnington's cows kept milking through his robotic milking shed thanks to already installed generators. Photo: SuppliedPower was restored several days ago.By Tuesday Bruce had secured a larger generator for the house so that they could have hot water, whereas they’d been surviving on a small household one until then to run their freezers.He knew of people who drove to Christchurch to get generators.“In those first 48 hours the cows can be in trouble.""The ones who waited were probably in trouble, he says.Bruce reckons the November winds of 1996/97 were “every bit as devasting” in the south though.Photo: SuppliedMeanwhile near Matarau, netball umpiring legend Colleen Bond says a huge tree came crashing down on the end of their 16-day horse stables.Thankfully her son, Lyndon, was offered stable space nearer Gore.Fortunately, the horse on that end escaped uninjured.Power was out to the stables.“We’ve never seen or experienced wind like that wind that came through. It was horrific,” Bond says.“You couldn’t even see through the rain.”The horses had to go to Gore or Wyndham tracks to be jogged, but we are very fortunate that a good friend has allowed my son some stable space.“You just don’t know that’s coming,” she says.There’s no preparation.

A linesman working to repair Southland's stricken power network following severe weather says the past week has been "apocalyptic".Around 2200 customers are still without power following a freak storm on 23 October which threw the region into a state of emergency.PowerNet distribution team leader Rob Wylie is one of those leading the charge to fix that, and said the situation was like nothing he'd seen previously."I've worked with a lot of guys in various depots that have been here a lot longer than I have, and they're the same. I don't think anyone in the company's seen sort of damage like this before."Wylie said some staff were working up to 15 hours a day just to complete jobs, but progress was being made and spirits were high."It's day by day. It's just chipping away now. It's been a long haul to get where we are, and there's still a lot to go, but the morale's up, the teams are all pretty happy you know. Everyone's giving each other a bit of stick."On Friday afternoon, teams were working to restore power at Mitchell Rd in a rural area of Southland, just north of Riverton/Aparima.Emergency Management has described the restoration as complex because of widespread damage, and Wylie said there were challenges such as water pooling on the sides of roads - areas where they tended to operate.PowerNet team leader Rob Wylie says the damage to the region from last week's storm is the worst he's seen on the job. Photo: Matthew Rosenberg/LDRThe work itself was similar to day-to-day operations except now it was all happening at once, Wylie said.A key focus was getting high voltage feeders back in, which he described as the main arteries coming down the road which fed multiple transformers into people's houses."Once you get them on you can start livening up sort of communities and areas, as opposed to just focusing on individual properties."Fred Allan and Josidy Tallada are some of the workers improving the outlook for those still without power in Southland. Photo: Matthew Rosenberg/LDRPeople experiencing outages are encouraged to report them through PowerNet's Facebook page/online form, or by calling 0800 808 587.Southland remains under a state of emergency, which was extended on Thursday night by district mayor Rob Scott.LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.

Fraser Guise, of Winton’s STIHL SHOP drove 2000kms to Nelson and back in 29 hours with his dad, former farmer Merv Guise, to collect more than 50 generators, and has another 35 on the way, all pre-ordered.Frustrated with the trucking company whose Christchurch staff told him last Friday that they could only get the generators to Christchurch where they would sit until after the long weekend, likely arriving on Wednesday, Fraser did the job himself.He and Merv set off at 6pm on Friday, arriving back from Nelson with the generators at 1.30am Sunday, some of the customers that desperate that they came and collected them at that hour.Fraser and his dad were both getting pretty exhausted by the time they hit Dunedin on the way home.“We were swapping drivers at every town.”Fraser missed his one-year-old son Mac’s first birthday Friday evening just to do the good turn.Fraser and Merv Guise load up with generators in Nelson in an effort to supply their Southland client's businesses and households. Photo: SuppliedIt was a stressful wait for his wife, Sarah, back in Winton with their three-year-old and one-year-old, and no power at their home.“I went to my in-laws as they had power, and communications were down so I didn’t know where they were,” she says.“Yeah, Sarah and I were having discussions about me going, but I’d made my mind up,” Fraser grins. “I’m not open to suggestions from other people when I’ve made my mind up.”The good turn was reciprocated when the long-distance drivers returned.“Our amazing staff all turned out last Sunday morning during a long weekend without being asked to help unbox and run up the generators ready for people.”His parents and Sarah’s also helped.There was so much at stake, or steak!“Not only has it been vital to keep water pumps moving for dairy farmers, but most farmers have thousands of dollars’ worth of meat in their freezers, Fraser says.“The pharmacy also had stock that needed to be kept cold and urgently needed a generator.”He reckons they’d probably sold 20 times the generators they’d sell in a year since the storm struck last Thursday.The greatest need seemed to be getting robotic automatic milk feeders going for calves and power to get pumps working to get water to stock troughs.Farmers with virtual fences were also needing power to run the collars on the cows to keep them in their assigned paddocks.Fraser’s since been faced with a big rush on chainsaws coming in for repair and customers needing to get generators going that have been stored in sheds as Southlanders get stuck into the cleanup.“One friend at Groper’s Bush has 100 trees down on his farm,” he saysAs for wee Mac, Mum was concerned she didn’t even get to give him his present on Friday as their business was so busy, but he was none the wiser.