A widespread state of emergency has been declared across the Manawatū-Whanganui region as severe weather continues to hammer the lower North Island, forcing evacuations, cutting power to thousands of properties and crippling transport networks.
Residents in parts of Manawatū and the Tararua District coast have been evacuated as rivers swell following sustained heavy rainfall and damaging winds. Emergency services have been stretched, with Fire and Emergency responding to 185 incidents across the lower North Island involving damaged roofs, fallen power lines, and trees smashing into homes and buildings.
Five districts — Manawatū, Rangitīkei, Tararua, Waipā and Ōtorohanga — are now under emergency declarations as authorities assess flooding and storm damage.
The storm has also disrupted critical infrastructure, with widespread power outages reported across the Wellington region. Multiple Lower Hutt suburbs, including Wainuiomata, Waterloo, Waiwhetu, Avalon, Naenae, Epuni, Korokoro, Petone, Alicetown, Stokes Valley and Eastbourne, have been left without electricity. Outages have also been recorded in Wellington suburbs such as Newlands, Brooklyn, Grenada, Johnsonville and Karori, while homes in Porirua areas including Pāuatahanui and Pukerua Bay have also lost power.
Transport across the region has been severely impacted. All Wellington flights and Cook Strait ferry sailings were cancelled on Sunday, while all Wellington train services were suspended on Monday morning. KiwiRail warned winds reaching 130km/h pose a serious threat to overhead electric lines. Chief Metro Officer David Gordon told state media a Wairarapa passenger train struck a tree on Sunday, though further details have not yet been released. KiwiRail is aiming to reopen the full metro network by 10am following safety inspections, however the Capital Connection service between Palmerston North and Wellington has been cancelled as crews continue damage assessments.
Authorities are urging residents to stay updated with official warnings and avoid unnecessary travel as the storm system continues to move across the region.
For up-to-date information on the latest weather warnings, visit metservice.com.
Autumn is a nice time of year
News outlets revealed that Gerry Brownlee had been filing incorrect property ownership declarations for around two decades
Including failing to declare a property at all
Declaring a property he did not own
Amending 15 of his 19 pecuniary interest declarations dating back to 2005, with some still incorrect
This scrutiny has also widened to other MPs, with at least six more being examined for similar issues
Public and media scrutiny has intensified
Questions raised about transparency and trust
No formal penalties or disciplinary actions reported (so far)
The issue has contributed to broader scrutiny of MPs’ property declarations
Good ole Gerry
Nasi of the Jewish Sanhedrin two party system with affiliate klingons
Wellington Water chair’s resignation ‘right thing to do’ – Mayor Andrew Little
Wellington’s mayor says he has confidence in Wellington Water’s current leadership, after its chair resigned in the wake of the Moa Point crisis (?)
All the problems have gone away
Glossed over
No problems do not go away
Now comes the cleanup
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/586951/wellington-water-chair-s-resignation-right-thing-to-do-mayor-andrew-little
Extremely rare planetry alignments causing massive record solar activity has nothing to do with the weather on earth. It’s cattle farms and the people not wearing face-masks and not driving EV’s and not taking big-pharma injections up their arses and who don’t watch mainstream media news that are causing all this bad weather. So nothing to see here. Next….