Emergency services and authorities have been slammed today responding to a massive deluge of callouts with multiple large trees blocking highways and roads, power poles down and roofs tearing off buildings, leaving many stranded without power and clean water.Fire and Emergency received 207 callouts for the Southland region in just under three hours from 11.55am today, 154 in the Invercargill area, 13 in Gore. That number multiplied by dozens more throughout the afternoon.Photo: Invercargill City CouncilState Highways in and out of Southland have been closed due to trees falling over them, a truck blew over near Gore and part of the roof of one of Fonterra’s Edendale new plant buildings blew off.By mid-afternoon, a FENZ spokesperson said every brigade in Southland was out tending to mostly roofs lifting, trees blowing over and garden sheds blowing away.In Winton the brigade was called to help when a flying trampoline smashed into a house.“About 25% of the callouts we can attend with the resources we have, the rest are awaiting availability,” he said mid-afternoon. “We only have half a dozen or 10 trucks in the Invercargill area and we’ve got to get around 154 calls.3Some “quite substantial trees” were down that had uprooted water mains with them, central Invercargill badly affected, and similar problems reported in Gore. A Red Alert was issued for Invercargill and coastal Southland around lunchtime.“It will take a while to clear all the trees and flying debris to make the roads safe again and council contractors would be doing their best once it was safe to get out there,” the FENZ spokesperson said. Stay inside and restrict travel unless absolutely necessary. There’s a lot of debris flying around,” he said.A truck was among a number of vehicles that rolled over on roads, on State Highway 1 at Waipahi just north of Gore. KiwiRail was also understood to be dealing with trees across the railway line at Mataura.Fonterra chief operation officer Anna Palairet says “a small section of the roof” on the company’s new Edendale UHT plant, currently under construction, had been “impacted by the very high winds in the region and lost a small number of roof panels”Fortunately, everybody was safe despite disruptions to its South Island operations with normal operations set to resume as the weather eases.NZTA journeys manager – southern South Island Nicole Felts says that by around 5pm all but several roads and highways had been reopened after multiple closures due to highways being blocked by fallen trees and power lines down, as well as flying debris.“It’s been a bit challenging, but all of our highways in Southland are now reopened, except for two – SH 96 from Mataura to Hedgehope will remain closed overnight with power lines down and we have Stop and Go operations in place on the partially opened Bluff Highway which was closed at Omaui Road,” Felts says. SH1 – Gore to McNab remained closed and no update was available. “Everything else is open with detours available.”The Milford Road, blocked by a large landslide and fallen trees, is scheduled to be reopened by Saturday, although Felts says the heavy rain has exacerbated the avalanche hazard.There had been numerous reports of high sided vehicles blowing over around the province, which was battered by up to 150km gales thought to peak 167km/hr at times.Felts says there were definitely periods when it was unsafe for contractors to get out and clear the roads but thankfully the conditions eased off during the afternoon. “You can expect to see contractors out on our roads over the next few days clearing debris and ensuring our roads are safe to drive on for Labour Weekend.”People should still watch for potential debris and take extreme care in high-sided vehicles.Photo: Invercargill City CouncilWater and wastewater services were starting to come back on around the region with Southland District, Invercargill City and Gore District councils all scrambling to get generators in place with the mass power outages during the peak of the storm early afternoon.Gore District Council communications and marketing manager Graham McKerracher says while there were some big trees down closing roads and highways it was “not as bad as Invercargill”.“There are lots of trees down, and power lines, quite a lot.”Gore Mayor Ben Bell was urging people to ‘stay home and stay safe’ and seek some good southern hospitality if home was no longer safe.“If your property is seriously affected with trees down, or damaged, and it’s no longer safe to stay there, check with your neighbours to see if you can hunker down there,” he said.Southland District Mayor Rob Scott says Southland has certainly been “beaten up”. “Mother Nature has delivered us some fair packing punches,” he says. “We’ve got damage to buildings, and have had wastewater and water treatment plants affected across most of the district due to the power outages, but generators were brought in to all of those,” he says. “She’s been a bit intense out there – a bit of a mess. Every now and then Mother Nature lets us know what she’s capable of.”Even the SDC Chambers building in Don Street got a fair shake up this afternoon, he says. “The building was shaking. It was pretty intense.”“We’ve been doing all we can. I take my hat off to all the staff and power company staff.”It was a baptism of fire for new mayor Scott and Invercargill mayor-elect Tom Campbell. “It’s been pretty significant, testing our resilience,” Scott says.Photo: Invercargill City CouncilThey were careful not to pressure contractors until the conditions eased during the afternoon. “We’re not putting lives at risk,” he says.Campbell agreed it was a bit of a rough initiation for a new mayor. “We’ve certainly been quite badly hit, “he says. “We’re used to wild weather here, but this is next level.”By mid afternoon the winds were lessening and people were appearing from central Invercargill buildings in an effort to get home.Thankfully, Campbell says, there were no serious injuries.A St John Ambulance spokesperson says the only weather-related emergency callout to them involved a tree that had fallen onto a garage, however, there was no patient on the scene by the time the ambulance crew arrived.Two trucks also crashed on the Milton Highway, one patient with moderate injuries transported to the Balclutha Medical Centre. No patient was located in the other truck.Emergency Management Southland is hoping to have an 0800 welfare line set up tomorrow to assess the welfare needs of those needing additional support and assistance.“We’re keeping an eye on things and working with the councils,” she says. ‘We’re working out what the needs are and who’s best to support those.”Potentially, if there were no other options, they would look at helping to evacuate people but if anyone is sitting in a home that’s unsafe, she urges them to call 111 for emergency services, or stay with friends, family or neighbours. If those options don’t work, then people could call Emergency Management Southland on 0800768845. “Our team will be available to answer questions and try to find support,” she says. “We don’t want people sitting in unsafe houses.”
