Cyclone Gita could certainly have been a lot worse than it was. I disagree, however, that we 'dodged a bullet". Some parts of the country were badly affected and there are lessons to be learned.
The areas previously affected by earthquakes and extreme weather events (only 3 weeks ago) have been struck again.
REFLECTIONS ON ‘EX-CYCLONE”GITA
The media is going to great lengths to
say this is an “ex-cyclone”. - all, designed to hide the unique nature of this
phenomenon. Correct - sort of but designed to pull the wool over your eyes.
One significant point is that Gita
tracked further south than any previous tropical cyclone. In fact further south
than they predicted.
This comes with incredibly
constantly-warm air- temperatures that have been much warmer than average. Not
1 or 2 degrees, as they say. That is yet another example of using science to
hide the truth.
Not 12 hours after the cyclone hit us
here we are back to warm temperatures. It was 23 degree at 9 am.
So, yes, it was a cyclone. No, it wasn’t
a tropical cyclone. WE may need a new term - a SUB-TROPICAL cyclone. The
sub-tropics seem to have moved far south.
There was a discussion on RNZ with
someone listing all the extreme weather events. We had 1968 and 1978 didn’t we,
so there’s nothing to see here, right?
What previously occurred every few years
are now regular events. It is is only a few weeks since devastating events in
Nelson and Buller.
The one sector that are not deniers is
the insurance sector! They know.
We are moving into terra incognita and it is only going to get worse - and more quickly than anyone except for a few “nutters”, are willing to admit.
We are moving into terra incognita and it is only going to get worse - and more quickly than anyone except for a few “nutters”, are willing to admit.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
- Ex-tropical cyclone Gita moved
off the country Wednesday morning, leaving destruction in its wake.
- 202mm of rain fell on Kaikōura
in just 18 hours - which is 28 per cent of the town's annual rainfall.
- Huge rainfalls were
recorded in the Tasman district on Tuesday - Waingaro got 211.5mm, Takaka got
204.2mm, Motueka received 180.1mm, and Riwaka got 146.9mm.
- State Highway 1 north of
Wellington is down to one lane between
Paekākāriki and Pukerua Bay.
- States of emergency were
declared in Taranaki, Nelson Tasman region, Selywn district, Buller, Westland
and Christchurch. MetService has lifted a heavy
rain warning for Buller.
- A state of emergency for the
Grey District has been lifted.
- Road access to Kaikōura has
been restored after the Inland Road, SH70, was re-opened this
morning, NZTA says.
- Takaka Hill road was closed by slips
isolating about 6000 locals and tourists in Golden Bay.
- Blockages have closed Arthurs
Pass (SH63) in places.
- Access to Westport
re-established with SH6 re-opened
- Winds of 140kmh have
been recorded, including on the Rimutaka Range, Hawera, exposed areas of
Wairarapa, and Buller. At Kelburn in Wellington winds peaked around 120kmh.
- Thousands of people remain
without power in Taranaki.
- Good news for
Christchurch: There are no reports of any properties in the
city flooding above floor level.
- MetService
has issued a severe weather watch, severe weather warnings, and coastal warnings.
Roads and bridges are damaged, houses
flooded, communities cut off and tourists still trapped as Cyclone Gita leaves
the country.
The Taranaki, Nelson Tasman, Grey and
Selwyn councils still have a state of emergency in place to deal with
widespread flooding and disruption.
Fire and Emergency said almost 500 people
made emergency calls yesterday and through the night.
At least 5000 people in Golden Bay and
Collingwood are cut off after heavy rain brought down slips, closing the road
in three places on Takaka Hill and State Highway 1 into Kaikōura has been
closed by slips.
Also in the South Island, Tourists are
still trapped in south Westland after spending the night in their buses or in
welfare centres after State Highway 6 was closed.
MetService said the very worst of the
weather was likely over, and conditions were expected to ease as Gita moves
away today.
West Coast: Dozens took shelter in local pub
Contractors are racing to shore up a
stretch of SH1 north of Wellington as high tide threatens to undermine the
road.
The remnants of ex-tropical Cyclone Gita
hammered the Kapiti Coast late on Tuesday and early Wednesday, temporarily
closing the seaside stretch of highway.
NZTA journey manager Neil Walker said the
footpath and guardrail running along a 60-metre section between Paekākāriki to
Pukerua Bay was already undermined, and there were fears the road could follow
at 2pm when high tide hits.
Railway line near Clarence River on February 21, after
ex-cyclone Gita made its way across the South Island.
The Taranaki, Nelson Tasman, Grey and
Selwyn councils still have a state of emergency in place to deal with
widespread flooding and disruption.
Fire and Emergency said almost 500 people
made emergency calls yesterday and through the night.
At least 5000 people in Golden Bay and
Collingwood are cut off after heavy rain brought down slips, closing the road
in three places on Takaka Hill and State Highway 1 into Kaikōura has been
closed by slips.
The Taranaki, Nelson Tasman, Grey and
Selwyn councils still have a state of emergency in place to deal with
widespread flooding and disruption.
Fire and Emergency said almost 500 people
made emergency calls yesterday and through the night.
At least 5000 people in Golden Bay and
Collingwood are cut off after heavy rain brought down slips, closing the road
in three places on Takaka Hill and State Highway 1 into Kaikōura has been
closed by slips.
Also in the South Island, Tourists are
still trapped in south Westland after spending the night in their buses or in
welfare centres after State Highway 6 was closed
.
Golden Bay is cut off after yesterday's storm, with major
damage to the Takaka Hill Road, with officials considering evacuating the
region by sea if it cannot be reopened quickly. Dairy farmers in the region are
assessing the damage and trying to figure out how to get milk supplies away -
some farms cannot be accessed after a bridge over the Kaituna river was
severely damaged. Kathryn talks with Federated Farmers' Golden Bay President
and Takaka dairy farmer Wayne Langford.
Meanwhile in Australia
TROPICAL
Cyclone Kelvin battered Western Australia on Sunday with heavy rains, flood
alerts and power shortages. But where is the raging weather front now?
Cyclone Kelvin was downgraded to
ex-cyclone status by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology on Monday but several
flood warnings are still in effect for Western Australia (WA).
A red alert was issued across WA as the
storm pummelled the exposed coastal areas with wind gusts up to 250 kph.
Kelvin was last tracked southeast of
Telfer, heading down a path that will take it in between Laverton and Warburton
by Wednesday.
Latest satellite imagery captured at
2.20am AEDT (3.30pm GMT) shows a churning formation of clouds just south of the
northwestern coast.
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