A large rockfall, releasing several thousand cubic metres of material came down at the Epitaph rift overnight on Friday. The site before rock scaling started on Tuesday. Photo: NZ Transport Agency / Waka Kotahi
- An orange heavy rain warning has been issued for the Westland ranges.
- Up to to 160 millimetres of rain is forecast.
- State Highway 6 between Haast and Lake Moeraki in south Westland remains closed after last week's rain
- The heavy rain warning will begin at 11am on Thursday to 5am Friday.
More heavy rain is being forecast for Westland, less than a week after a state of emergency was declared for the region.
A local state of emergency was declared in south Westland over the weekend as heavy rains caused slips, evacuations, road closures and flooded homes.
A section of State Highway 6 is still closed following the earlier weather, causing worries for tourism businesses in the area.
Now more bad weather was on the way.
On Wednesday, MetService issued a heavy rain warning for the district. It runs from Thursday morning until Friday.
"Expect 130 to 160mm of rain, with possibly more in isolated locations. The heaviest falls are likely Thursday afternoon and evening when intensities could reach 20 to 25 mm per hour," Metservice said.
Streams and rivers could rise rapidly and cause flooding, slips and difficult driving conditions, it said.
A local state of emergency was declared in Westland's southern ward last Saturday, when NIWA reported Franz Josef had recorded its wettest day since 1979.
The state of emergency was lifted on Sunday night.
The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) said State Highway 6 between Haast and Lake Moeraki in south Westland remained closed because of a significant number of slips around Knights Point and Moeraki.
Tuesday after the first day of scaling/rock removal, showing why people could be on the road while work was underway given the distance the rocks travel, bouncing over the highway into the bush. Photo: NZ Transport Agency / Waka Kotahi
Several thousand cubic metres of rock came down last Friday night at the Epitaph rift, and more on Sunday night, NZTA spokesperson Mark Pinner said.
Unstable rock above the road had to be removed or stabilised, he said.
"A scaling crew, with a helipad established, is now working on removing loose and unstable rocks from these two new rockfalls, as well as the remaining unstable feature between, estimated to weigh five tonnes," he said.
"Any large rocks threatening to drop or roll onto the highway need to be prised loose or popped out using air bags or explosives."
Rocks on the road on Tuesday after their removal from higher up. Photo: NZ Transport Agency / Waka Kotahi
The heavy rain had also caused movement at the road level, which was being monitored, Pinner said.
"While people may have seen photos of cracks in the road, the good news is that there hasn't been any movement since recording started late on Saturday.".
An update on the closure of State Highway 6 is expected next Sunday.
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