Latest news with #Bluebridge
RNZ News
3 days ago
- Climate
- RNZ News
Cook Strait ferries cancelled as six-metre swells forecast
Cook Strait ferries are being cancelled this weekend due to forecast swells. Photo: Supplied Cook Strait ferries are being cancelled this weekend due to forecast six-metre swells. Interislander has canned all passenger sailings for Saturday due to the conditions. "All passengers are being moved to alternative sailings," it said on its website. Bluebridge has also cancelled all Saturday sailings, and one in the early hours of Sunday morning. "We are monitoring the situation closely, and if further sailings are impacted, we will notify you via text and email at the earliest opportunity," the operator told customers. The MetService says waves could reach swells of six metres on Saturday, with a warning lasting to Sunday morning. A fresh surge of winter weather was expected to descend on the South Island on Friday , bringing snow, sub-zero temperatures and the risk of travel disruption. More to come. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Otago Daily Times
02-05-2025
- Climate
- Otago Daily Times
Response praised after Canterbury floods
The Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery has praised the community response to the severe weather over the last week. Christchurch and Banks Peninsula are still in a state of emergency after torrential rain hit the Canterbury region, while households across Wellington, Wairarapa, and Manawatū remain without power following a rare "threat to life" warning with the strongest wind in over a decade. "As a country, we've always had these weather events - particularly people in the South Island, they're used to water and rain. However, they are becoming more intense and severe," Mark Mitchell told Saturday Morning. "Communities are becoming more and more sensitive to that, and realising that as a country to strengthen our response and be more resilient, it's not just central government, local government or regional government, or our first responders - it's a whole of community response." Mitchell said he could see a difference between when he first became the Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery to now. He said those in Canterbury had told him that there was good communication, and the Civil Defence teams had done a "very, very good job in terms of responding early to their needs". The local state of emergency has lifted for Selwyn, and Mitchell said the main concern was now the surface flooding, which was "starting to abate". "I'll be out checking, making sure that, first of all, residents are taken care of and they can identify clearly what needs to be done in terms of infrastructure and property damage. I'm on standby from central government to support once I've been able to identify that," Mitchell added. He also said power companies had been working "flat out" to restore power to households across Wellington, Wairarapa, and Manawatū. There was also work underway for a new Emergency Management Bill to replace the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002, which Mitchell said was out of consultation. "I want to make that absolutely fit for purpose." Ferries operating again Meanwhile, the Interislander ferry Aratere was the first of the Cook Strait ferries away from Wellington this morning, heading for Picton. Interislander and Bluebridge ships were kept at their berths from Wednesday because of high swells from the southerly storm. Interislander says it is putting on additional sailings on Saturday evening and Sunday morning. Bluebridge says it has added additional sailings to its schedule today. These are the 1.30 sailing this afternoon from Wellington and the 7.15 this evening from Picton.
