10. Question No. 10—Civil DefenceRINO TIRIKATENE (Labour—Te Tai Tonga) to the Minister of Civil DefenceQuestion No. 10—Civil Defence10. RINO TIRIKATENE (Labour—Te Tai Tonga) to the Minister of Civil Defence: What reports has he seen on the impacts from the storm that hit the West Coast of the South Island last week?SPEAKER: Before I call the Hon Kris Faafoi I have been warned that these answers are slightly longer than normal.Hon KRIS FAAFOI (Minister of Civil Defence): I've seen a number of reports since a local state of emergency was declared on Tuesday of last week by the district mayor and lifted on Friday of last week. During this time flooding impacted private and public land transport and communication links and a number of infrastructure assets in the region. The rainfall impacted 23 properties prompting evacuations in the Waiatoto area and damaging local roads. Farms along the Waiho River were also impacted by flooding and significant damage was caused to stopbanks in the region. Along with local MP Damien O'Connor I visited the region last week to see first-hand the consequences and the response to the flooding and was heartened by the demonstration of strength in the community. The legacy landfill site at Fox River has been severely eroded by the river which has cut through bush causing rubbish to be taken downstream and north through the northern drift at sea. Litter has been observed along approximately 20 kilometres of the riverbed and from the Fox River mouth as far as north Ōkārito and the regional council is leading the clean-up effort there. Unfortunately one person has died as a result of this weather event and on behalf of Parliament we offer the family and friends of this person our condolences.Rino Tirikatene: What updates has he received on the Waiho Bridge?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: As the House would know the Waiho Bridge was washed away during this event cutting State Highway 6 to the south of the town and phone and internet services to Fox Glacier. State Highway 6 between Franz Josef and Fox Glacier remains closed as a result of the Waiho Bridge being washed away. I have been advised that the New Zealand Transport Agency and the New Zealand Defence Force continue to work establishing a replacement bridge across the Waiho River and that this will temporarily be repaired in approximately 17 days. This is slightly longer than initially anticipated as the design has been reworked to allow class 1 vehicles which include some heavier trucks—not just cars and buses—to use this bridge.Rino Tirikatene: What are the next steps for the recovery phase for this event?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: The Westland District Council is now able to undertake recovery and planning from this event. Emergency works are under way on the south bank of the Waiho River to cut off channels currently flooding the Franz Josef airstrip. Chorus has installed temporary communication cables across the Waiho River and Vodafone has installed a temporary cellphone tower near Fox Glacier to restore communicational links with that township. I'm also pleased to inform the House that electricity generation has now been stabilised in Haast with the power station generating electricity. There will be a requirement for planned outages in the future but these will be part of programmed maintenance and not emergency works. Detailed assessments of stopbanks along the Waiho River downstream of Franz Josef are now being undertaken to determine the full extent of the damage. Farms that were cut off have contingencies being worked on to ensure cows are milked and milk is handled and disposed of appropriately. The Ministry for Primary Industries is now undertaking a needs assessment with affected property owners. A further assessment of property damage is being undertaken in South Westland by urban search and rescue teams and while most people have been able to return to their homes and tourists affected by road closures have now been able to be moved on a limited number of people continue to be assisted with accommodation.