Buller District mayor Jamie Cleine says planned evacuations are now complete and they are not expecting to make further evacuations so far, but it will be re-assessed at 6:30pm.
"[NIWA]are comfortable that the current areas were evacuated are adequate with a little bit of buffer zone for what's anticipated."
The Minister for Emergency Management Kiri Allan is travelling to the West Coast to assess the impacts of the severe weather event and what Government assistance might be needed.
Allan will meet with officials and impacted residents tomorrow morning.
An updated schedule will be sent out later today.
A mandatory partial evacuation of Westport was underway with flooding expected in the town tonight or early tomorrow morning.
Over 158 households have been evacuated and 281 houses have been visited by Emergency crews and Wesport Land Search and Rescue.
Expected high rainfall and high tides means the decision was taken to "safeguard people's lives", Cleine said.
"Although the storm is still progressing, it is progressing as expected."
Rain is meant to go on until later tonight and rivers will peak at a subsequent time afterwards.
People are being advised to leave as soon as possible and an emergency alert has been sent to residents.
The areas requiring evacuation include:
- All of Snodgrass
- Coates St
- Derby St south of Cobden
- Roebuck St
- Menzies St
- The Airport
- Marrs Beach
- Martins Creek
A futher list of over 40 streets have recently been included in the compulsary evacuation order.
Everyone evacuating should take clothes, essential medicines and personal documents, along with any pets and enough food to last three days, Cleine said.
Police, firefighters and volunteers have been going door-to-door in town to ensure everyone that needs to leave does so.
Due to potential contamination Buller Emergency said residents should treat all storm water as potentially contaminated.
Buller District residents are being adviced to avoid using toliets and minimising water use until the evacuation order is lifted.
Sewers are not working properly and may overflow in the evacuated areas and margins surronding these. The rest of the town may have diminished sewer capacity.
People evacuating are recommened to leave the toilet lid closed with a heavey onject on before they leave.
Locals who don't have an alternative are able to go to the old Holcim cement site near Cape Foulwind.
Anyone headng there needs to take sleeping bags and be prepared to sleep in their vehicles, Cleine said.
Those requiring help to evacutate can call the Buller Emergency Operations Centre on 0800 234 533.
Cleine said some residents are resisting evacuation orders, they are being looked after by emergency crews.
State Highway 67 between Waimangaroa to Birchfield is closed due to impassable surface water.
Buller Emergency Management is urging people to not walk or drive through flood waters, as they may contain debris.
Sections of roads on State Highway 6 and 7 have been closed and drivers are urged to take extra care on all roads.
Operations at Westland Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) will continue through the
afternoon and wind down by Friday evening.
“We are continuing to staff the EOC in Hokitika until we see the Hokitika River levels drop to
satisfactory levels. But expect this to be early Friday evening” Local Controller Simon Bastion said.
“The short-term forecast shows rain easing and we hope to wake up to sunshine tomorrow.”
They thank all staff and volunteers who have supported their communities by helping the EOC and community welfare centres.
While the Westland EOC will be stood down for the evening, please call 03 900 9315, the
Emergency Coordination Centre based in Greymouth, to report any issues.
Meanwhile severe weather warnings remain in place for parts of the South Island with "extreme" rainfall continuing to fall.
The MetService said the slow-moving front continues to move north and will move on to the North Island later on Saturday and Sunday, bringing further "significant heavy rain".
Marlborough local Justin Morrison told Newshub there was "severe" rainfall in the Rai Valley area too, with SH6 to Nelson still cut off.
Morrison said he had to use a kayak to cut a fence in order to save 75 beef steers from the Whangamoa river at Kokorua as the flood waters rose.
A red heavy rain warning remains in place for Buller and Westland until 11pm tonight, with up to 250mm of rain near the ranges.
The Met Service said the rain is "expected to cause dangerous river conditions and significant flooding".
"Slips and floodwaters are likely to disrupt travel, making some roads impassable and possibly isolating communities," it said.
"People are strongly advised to keep up to date with the latest forecasts, and with all information from local authorities."
Buller Emergency Operations Centre reported it was busy into the night preparing for more bad weather today.
While there are some roads closed, the centre reiterated that those who can should self-evacuate, with the Baptist Church in Greymouth available for Westport residents.
Westland District's Emergency Operations Centre is also operational today, with peak rain intensities expected about the ranges on Friday morning.
"EOC staff in coordination with the WCRC have been checking the river levels and Waiho, Whataroa and Wanganui River are currently fine," Local Controller Simon Bastion said.
"We are aware that the capacity in the headwaters of the Hokitika is rising and we will be keeping a watch on this throughout the day."
"Based on the current conditions and discussions with the Metservice we do not predict any significant flooding in low lying areas," Bastion said.
"Our advice to business owners and residents remains the same, if they feel unsafe please make plans to evacuate to higher ground. We will leave the sandbags in place in Hokitika until the weekend."
Meanwhile NIWA's river flow modelling indicates the water in the Buller River will become extremely high, with particular concern for flooding during the 2.20am morning tide tomorrow in Westport.
An orange heavy rain warning is in force for other areas in the South Island, including Tasman west of Motueka, the Richmond and Bryant Ranges and Nelson Lakes.
The warning remains in place until 3am Saturday morning but MetService said further rain is possible on Saturday and Sunday and a new heavy rain watch or warning may be issued closer to the time.
Locals have been told to be careful, with the potential for rapidly rising streams and rivers. Surface flooding and slips are also possible, meaning hazardous driving conditions.
Weatherwatch described the rain as "typical La Nina weather" and said inland Canterbury may get some heavy rain on Friday afternoon with Nelson and Tasman set to bear the brunt tomorrow.
