Major cracks in the the main highway linking West Coast communities - at Westland's Knights Point - are a concern, Waka Kotahi says, and there is currently no detour without travelling over to the east coast. Photo: Supplied / NZTA
A Fox Glacier lodge is worried about losing business while a key tourist route to the township remains closed due to storm damage.
A local state of emergency declared in south Westland was lifted late on Sunday, following deluges, slips, evacuations, flooded homes and damage to roads and highways on Saturday.
But the main route along the West Coast, State Highway 6, is still closed between Haast in the south and Fox Glacier in the north.
Waka Kotahi said large cracks in the highway at Knights Point were a concern, and the highway between Haast and Knights Point was likely to remain closed at least until later this week.
Fox Glacier Lodge owner Vicky Zou said more than half of her bookings on Sunday were cancelled due to the closure.
From previous experience of storms, the road could take two weeks to reopen, she said.
"There's flooding, all the mud on the highway they're trying to clean out, we've got cracks on a few parts of the road from huge rocks falling from the mountain down on the highway."
Debris on the road in Westland's Fox Hills. Photo: Supplied / NZTA
Road may be closed til end of week
NZTA's system manager for the area Mark Pinner told Morning Report it would be at least the end of the week before the road reopened.
"Over the next few days we'll get a better idea of when we can reopen it."
It was closed Monday while crews removed rocks from the northern end, Pinner said.
They were also monitoring for any movement, he said.
Even once the road was reopened it may be closed at night, or restricted to light vehicles.
Pinner acknowledged it was an important corridor and "it's a long way round" when it's closed, with no detour available.
But he denied lack of appropriate maintenance work was to blame.
Instead he said it was a complex area with irregular geology and nearby fault lines.
A study was being commissioned to consider an alternative inland route, Pinner said.
"When they built this road 70 years ago they did dismiss that... we're going to look at that again, see what we can do with modern technology."
Tough for businesses
Westland mayor Helen Lash said road closures had been tough for tourism businesses in Franz Josef and Fox Glacier.
"We're at the start of our tourism season for the summer and there's a lot of forward bookings, and if we can get that road through Knights Point open even to one lane by the end of this week everyone will be able to carry on their business and carry on with their travels."
Lash said crews were working quickly to clear debris and assess damage.
She said Hannah's Clearing south of Haast was one of the worst-hit areas, with several homes damaged by floodwaters.
"With the fine weather now things are drying out but teams will all be in there assessing any damage to make sure things are safe for people. But they're resilient down there, you know it's a matter of taking things out and drying things out and carrying on."
Lash said she was proud of the region's emergency response.
At Salmon Cafe, in the Westland settlement of Paringa, owner Ben Monk was concerned about loss of business if the highway was not fixed soon, as many of his customers came north from Wānaka.
UPDATE 5:05PM, SAT 9 NOV
— NZ Transport Agency - Canterbury & West Coast (@nztacwc) November 9, 2024
SH6 between Ross and Fox Glacier is now OPEN. Take care when driving through this area as some debris may still remain.
CLOSED:
• SH6 - Fox Glacier to Haast - Slips and road damage - Next update Mon 11 Nov at 10am https://t.co/YdJPY4W11a pic.twitter.com/h7vJfpXCv0
Slips in the Knights Point area during weather events were a known weakness, which added to the frustration, he said.
"That slip has been a concern for all of the locals ... local tourism operators [for] many many years, and we've tried again and again raising our concerns, and something - an alternative route or something needs to be done about it - nobody's listened."
Kayak and quad-bike tour company operator Dale Burrows said while some tourists had been able to head out on tours on Sunday, others not being able to reach them was a problem.
"It does have a pretty significant impact on the flow of tourists coming down the region."
Damage to properties
West Coasters who have had property damage are being advised to get in touch with their insurance company to make a claim, and to record any damage.
Emergency Management controller Claire Brown said people with flooded homes should contact the council's building control department as soon as possible, for a rapid building assessment.
Homeowners should take photos of the damage, to help their insurer assess what they were entitled to, she said.
More information about entitlements was available on the Natural Hazards Commission's website, she said.
Clean up phase
Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell told Morning Report the majority of the damage on roads in Westland was due to slips.
"Obviously moving into a clean up and recovery phase now.... of course there'll be a fair bit of work going on around the roads."
Mitchell said Westland communities were resilient and "used to dealing with rain", although this was more rain than expected.
He said they were working hard to get things reopened for tourists as soon as possible.
Regional and local councils, as well as central government, were working on longer term mitigation work, Mitchell said.
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