Category: LiveNews

Source: Radio New Zealand

Severe weather hammering the lower North Island has left tens of thousands of households without power.

Powerco says about 23,000 properties across its network have lost connections, and in the Wellington region about 10,000 have their connections cut.

Here’s how to stay safe, keep warm and protect your home and belongings when the power goes out.

Call your lines company

It’s quite common for power cuts to last only a few minutes, so you may want to wait a while before making the call.

However, if you’re concerned about the length of the outage, give your lines company a ring.

You can also check the supplier’s website and social media to see if the outage was planned, or if there’s an update on when power will be restored.

Your wifi and cordless landline phone will likely be affected in a power cut, so it’s best to use your mobile phone for this.

If a power outage is putting your health at risk, call 111 or go to a hospital.

Turn on the torch

In a power outage, the best torch is the one you have to hand.

For many, this will mean your phone torch – but try not to use this long-term, as it will drain your battery, meaning you may not be able to call for help if you need it.

It’s a good idea to have an emergency kit to hand, containing a torch and spare batteries, among other items.

Torches and battery-powered lanterns are safer to use in a power cut than candles.

Break out the supplies

Vector advises that water pumps in rural areas may not work in a power cut – so you should make sure you have emergency water supplies for drinking and washing.

A spare battery or mobile power pack for your phone, a camp stove or barbecue, and cooking fuel (such as gas) are also helpful items to have in the event of an extended power cut.

Clear your home of hazards

Have a quick look around your house and move any items that could be easily tripped on, such as children’s toys, from corridors, doorways and high-traffic areas.

This will lessen the chances of you injuring yourself in the dark.

Powershop recommends placing a camping lamp at the edge of the room by the wall to light your path, and says it’s especially important that access to the bathroom and the emergency cupboard are clear.

Turn electronics off at the wall

Power can surge when it’s restored, possibly damaging sensitive electronics.

Turn your TV, computer and stereo off at the wall or make sure you have surge protectors installed.

Vector recommends turning off your stove elements and heaters, too – this will ensure they don’t come back on without you noticing the electricity has been restored.

The Electricity Authority recommends leaving an overhead light on so you can see when the power is back on.

Keep the fridge closed

Opening the fridge or freezer will let warmer air in – and without electricity, it won’t be able to cool down again.

If left shut, the fridge will keep food cool for up to six hours, while a freezer will usually keep food frozen for up to 24 hours.

If there’s food inside that you know you’ll need in the short-term, consider removing it at the start of the power cut and storing it in a chilly bin or ice box. That way your snacking won’t spoil the rest of your supplies.

The Ministry for Primary Industries recommends eating food that will expire quickly, such as bread and meat, first, and eating canned food last.

If any food is spoiled or rotting, throw it away so it doesn’t spoil other food.

Stay warm

If it’s a cold day or night, you can keep warm by closing your doors and windows and pulling the curtains.

Water can be boiled on a camp stove to fill hot water bottles. Remember never to operate a camp stove inside.

Gel warming packs are also good items to have in your emergency kit, as they can keep chilled fingers and toes toasty.

Check on your neighbours

If it’s safe to go outside, check on your neighbours. This is especially important if you have older or vulnerable people living around you.

If it’s not safe to go out, give them a call or a text.

Listen to the radio

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) advises that in times of crisis or civil defence emergency, a battery-powered radio or a car radio remain essential lifelines if power is out and other forms of communication are unavailable.

RNZ is New Zealand’s statutory civil defence lifeline radio broadcaster, providing vital information and updates as they come to hand. All frequencies can be found here.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/16/power-outages-what-to-do-and-what-not-to-do-when-the-electricity-goes-out/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Heavy rain and wind is hitting the capital, flooding streets in Lower Hutt, closing multiple schools, cutting off power, and bringing trees and debris down in the city.

Meanwhile, the entire Manawatū-Whanganui region is under a state of emergency, where some evacuations have taken place in Manawatū and on the coast of the Tararua district.

Waipā and Ōtorohanga in South Waikato remain under a states of emergency after significant flooding over the weekend.

In Wellington, regional and metro trains have stopped, while ferries and flights have been cancelled.

Streets in Epuni and Naenae appear flooded, with reports on social media of some cars getting stuck in Lower Hutt.

On Monday morning, Powerco said about 23,000 properties across its network had lost connections, and in the Wellington region about 10,000 had had their connections cut.

The storm has left a big mess for the owner of a Polish restaurant at Plimmerton, north of Wellington, to clean up after an exterior wall blew in.

Owner of Topor Bistro, Steve Askew said luckily another local business alerted them as otherwise they might not have been back in till Wednesday.

“I’m sure we’re going to be closed a couple of weeks,” he said.

“All of the ceiling on the inside has gone. All the studs and stuff they’re quite wet, I don’t know if they need to be replaced or if they can just be dried out. The hole in the wall needs to be fixed.”

Askew said the kitchen and main appliances are on the other side and escaped.

He said up till this the bistro had not been doing too badly recently.

A growing list of schools in the Wellington region are also closed due to the terrible weather.

Those include Wellington High School, Wellington East Girls’ College, and St Orans College in the Hutt Valley.

Rongotai College in Wellington has closed for the day with tree debris littering its grounds.

Principal Kevin Carter said he was at the boys’ school in Kilbirnie at 5pm on Sunday and everything was fine, but on Monday morning it was a different story.

“The grounds are covered with branches from trees that have come down … It’s pretty wild and unsafe here on the south coast,” he said.

Some gutters were down but otherwise buildings were not damaged by the look of it. He had had a quick walkaround and would do a closer check later in the hopes they could clean up and the wind would drop.

Carter said they would decide later whether to reopen tomorrow. All families had been advised by email or text the school was closed, he said.

Air New Zealand’s chief operating officer Alex Marren told Nine to Noon nearly 100 flights have been cancelled in and out of Wellington on Sunday and Monday morning.

All flights in the capital, Palmerston North and Napier have been paused until at least 11am, at which point the airline will reassess the weather conditions, Marren said.

She said there had been some “infrastructure impacts” and the airline was working closely with Wellington Airport on that.

In Wairarapa, evacuations are underway in Masterton due to the threat of falling trees.

Wairarapa assistant commander Ian Wright said it had been a busy night with weather-related call outs, which continue, and that trees coming down were the biggest risk.

He said there are shallow rooted trees on Lincoln Road that are “very, very unstable, so both roads have been closed and the people have been evacuated”.

There have been no reports of injuries.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/16/heavy-rain-and-wind-hits-wellington-region-bringing-down-trees-flooding-roads/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Wānaka freeskier Luca Harrington has qualified for the final of the big air at the Winter Olympics.

Harrington finished fifth after three rounds of qualifying, with the top 12 from the 29 entrants progressing through to Wednesday’s final.

The 2025 big air world champion was in 12th place after the first run with a score of 84.25 after completing a right double cork 1440 and back with a 1260 with safety grab.

The 21-year-old followed that up with a switch right triple cork 1800 with a two handed grab in his second run to score 92.00 and move up to fifth overall.

He then finished with a right-side triple cork 1980 safety grab in his third run to score 87.75.

His combined two best runs scored 179.75 while American Mac Forehand finished top with 183.00.

“Felt really good, came in with a plan and executed the plan,” Harrington told Sky Sports afterwards.

“I’ve been really working hard on that first trick I put down and it didn’t get rewarded the way I wanted it to. It’s been one of the hardest tricks I’ve ever worked through so that was a bit of a shame to see.”

Harrington admitted his bronze in the slopestyle last week did affect him.

“It was hard to mentally get back into the swing of things and focus up to work my hardest in big air, but by the third night of training I was feeling really good again.

“No matter how this goes I’m just so honoured to be here and hopefully put down a good show in finals as well.”

Fellow New Zealanders Ben Barclay finished 19th and Lucas Ball 24th in qualifying.

Earlier on Monday Queenstown skier Alice Robinson finished eighth in the giant slalom.

And Dane Menzies and Zoi Sadowski-Synnot topped their respective snowboarding slopestyle qualifying.

The women’s slopestyle final is scheduled for 1am Wednesday morning (NZT) with the men’s on Thursday at 12:30am (NZT).

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/16/world-champion-luca-harrington-qualifies-for-big-air-final/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Police and the University of Otago will be monitoring student behaviour, with concerns about another year of out-of-control and dangerous behaviour during Orientation Week (O-Week).

It has prompted the university to start meeting with some of the larger, named flats to discuss expectations for the year and how to party safely.

By Sunday afternoon, Castle Street was quiet, but the signs of Saturday’s pre-O-Week ‘Flo-Week’ blow-out remained with shattered glass, bottles, boxes and rubbish lining the road.

Second year students Charlie, Hunter and Hugo hosted Saturday night’s Castle Street bash, saying hundreds of people attended.

Hunter said there was a bit of pressure to host, so the six flatmates pooled their money and paid a company for the gear and set up.

Charlie said they also had security and wristbands to control who could go inside.

Hugo said out-of-towners could be okay, but not when they got too rowdy.

Someone had smashed a bottle into a window because they thought they could, he said.

Hunter said people did not seem to understand that people lived in these flats.

They acknowledged the street was in a sad state, with Charlie saying the red rubbish bin was full in a day between the six flatmates and the glass bin might only last 30 minutes on a night out.

Charlie said the flat had met with university staff as part of the new initiative.

“It was actually real good, and they kind of just were like ‘we know what you’re here to do’. They’ve got it run pretty well.

“They know it’s not the tidiest place to live. No one’s living in the best conditions but we’re all choosing to be here and they told us they can give us more rubbish bins, talked about obviously getting on roofs with what happened last year, and couch fires and stuff.”

Second years Kyra and Pippi were excited for O-Week.

Police have called some of the behaviour “feral”, which Pippi reckoned was fair.

“I think it’s definitely feral. But I think that’s just how everyone wants it to be. People know that Flo-Week you kind of just like go all out for a couple of weeks. But then tame it out throughout the rest of the year,” Pippi said.

Since September, two young men have been critically injured from falls – including from the roof of a Castle Street flat.

Pippi said people liked the thrill of climbing on roofs.

“It definitely is dangerous and bad… but it is very common. You just see people on roofs at almost every house but I think people get a bit of a shock once they hear the bad stories about it. Like, we heard a pretty tragic story and so it’s honestly scared us all.”

Kyra was glad the university shared information about staying safe.

“It’s also really good that there’s like police around, controlling everyone… when it gets really rowdy and stuff, so it like makes people feel more safe.”

They both had friends down for Flo-Week, and said it was good to have visitors and others to meet as long as they did not trash the flats.

First years Amy and Ruby just moved into a uni hall, saying there has already been meetings about safety.

Amy was glad the university was proactive about it, saying it meant they felt more comfortable asking for help.

“I think it’s real cos they know exactly what we’re doing and I mean they help us do it safely rather than turn their heads the other way and pretend it’s not happening,”

Ruby was not surprised about the state of Castle Street, describing it as disgusting and filthy.

“I guess that’s just what Castle Street’s all about.”

University vice-chancellor Grant Robertson said they proactively told students about safe partying and how they were expected to behave. That included staying off roofs.

“We’re really clear that students need to stay off roofs. The tragic consequences of that are clear for everybody. We make that clear in all of our communications with students.”

He was pleased that flatmates from about 40 of the larger, named flats had met with the proctor as part of the new initiative, which he said made sure they were all on the same page.

The university did not support out-of-towners joining the frivolities as they could be difficult to manage, Robertson said.

“Many times they behave quite differently than students who know that Dunedin is their home.”

Flats were made aware this could be an issue and there was support for them if there were any issues, he said.

“Police have obviously got a role to play there because ultimately what is facilitated and allowed comes down to what the police are prepared to put up with given that these are private residences where these parties are being held.”

A major step forward would be to take out the glass, and the university had submitted to the local Alcohol Plan for that to happen, he said.

More than 4000 first-year students were welcomed over the weekend.

The Otago University Students’ Association is hosting a range of events for O-Week, which kicked off on Monday. Association president Daniel Leamy said they would be safe, inclusive environments for all students.

“Student Support is also always open to assist students as needed, and will have the Are You OK teams on the ground at events,” he said.

“We must also be cognisant of a select few creating a bigger story for the masses. Most students have a great week.”

The association actively encouraged students to choose cans over glass and recycle responsibly, promoted registering parties in advance in partnership with Good One and actively participated in clean-up days as a signatory to the Sophia Charter, he said.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/16/o-week-in-dunedin-police-and-university-to-monitor-feral-student-behaviour/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Hamilton residents are facing a shake-up in how they pay for water.

National water reforms meant the city had to move away from the way residents had always paid for water – through their rates based on capital value – to either a set charge or a user pays model.

The new local water authority, Iawai, hoped a water meter trial, due to start in part of the city, would help find a way forward.

Carla Johnstone’s busy Hamilton household tried to think about their water use.

“I grew up really trying to conserve water in Australia,” she said.

They took simple steps such as turning the tap off when brushing their teeth, while balancing it with enjoying life.

“It’s quite nice to have come here and not have had to worry about it so much, and having two young children who like to play outside with the hose, it’s nice to not have to be so conscious of it,” she said.

As the city did not have water metering, she really didn’t know what her household used – but she soon would.

Her family was one of hundreds taking part in a water metering trial in Hamilton East.

Johnstone was generally supportive of the idea that the city might introduce metering.

“It could be beneficial to people and the city,” she said, citing the role metering played in helping identify leaking pipes.

Andrew Parsons from Iawai, the new water authority set up by Hamilton City and Waikato District, said metering water in the area of Hamilton where the Johnstones lived would come with many challenges – which wasn’t a bad thing.

“The good part for me about Hamilton East is that it’s an older area, there’s established trees in the berm, there’s a mix of pipes under the ground,” he said.

That more challenging infrastructure environment would hopefully mean the trial collected lots of helpful data.

Parsons said doing a trial did not mean a decision to move to water metering had been made.

“This is not a decision to roll out meters across the whole city, it is more an information gathering phase so we can understand the costs, what works from a customer perspective and what might work from a business perspective.”

The alternative to user paid water metering, however, was a fixed price model, which Parsons said could come with some poor financial consequences.

Under that model every household would pay the same amount for water, whether they were a single person in an apartment or a family of six with a pool and spa.

Wintec principal civil engineering academic staff member (water) Maryam Moridnejad said metering was fairer than both the current way of paying and a set price.

“You’re paying for water anyway at the moment, you are paying through your property rate. If the meters go ahead you are going to pay based on your actual usage,” she said.

It would also be expected to lead to water conservation – making the water Hamilton had go further.

“People will be surprised with how much water they use per person,” she said.

Moridnejad said data showed people in Hamilton used 1.5 times more water per person than residents of Tauranga – where water had been metered for several decades.

She said the country needed to face up to its water challenges and treat water as a precious resource.

“In New Zealand we are going towards water scarcity in future; we have been ignoring our water resources and the infrastructure of water for so long and they are now at a very critical point.”

Andrew Parsons from Iawai said they were looking forward to the results of the water meter trial and would soon consult with the public on a 10-year water services strategy.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/16/hamilton-residents-face-shake-up-in-how-they-pay-for-water/

Source: Radio New Zealand

From ants inside clothing packages from Australia to potentially deadly European hornets, Auckland has recently become a hotspot for unwanted insects from overseas.

Aucklander Jayd Graham, 21, was disgusted to find ants inside the sealed packaging of one of two dresses she ordered from Australia.

“I opened the package in my room. The first dress was completely fine. But then I opened the second dress and started seeing ants all over my bed. In the package with the second dress, there were eggs and ants crawling everywhere. I literally ran outside and chucked it on the ground.

“I was like, that’s disgusting, and my mates said I should make a video on TikTok.”

Biosecurity officers confirmed the ants were an Australian species already present in New Zealand.

In response to RNZ’s questions about whether the package had ants in it upon arriving in New Zealand, Biosecurity acknowledged that some unwanted pests can slip through the border security system.

Graham said the clothing brand she ordered from, which did not respond to RNZ’s request for comment, ultimately replaced her order and gave her a voucher.

Meanwhile, also in Auckland, Biosecurity staff are searching for yellow-legged hornets and their nests after the invasive pest, which wreaks havoc on overseas agriculture, was spotted in the country for the first time in 2025.

To date, 51 queen yellow-legged hornets and 61 nests have been found on Auckland’s North Shore.

A retired Hawke’s Bay beekeeper, Peter Berry, who worked in the industry for about 50 years, said the possibility of a wider outbreak was still worrying.

“If these things get away, the problem will be huge. And it won’t just be for the environment or for beekeepers, because they make life really unpleasant for anybody who bumps into them. People will die, and people will be severely injured by these things, and certainly lots and lots of people will be terrified.

“We really need to keep an eye out throughout the whole country because they are so easily spread.

“As I understand it, they’re fairly like the wasps we’re used to seeing that hibernate in lumps of firewood over the winter. If a queen wasp has got into one of those lumps of firewood, in the bumper of somebody’s car, or under a tarpaulin somewhere, then it could be anywhere in the country.”

He said the economic cost of a nationwide outbreak would be worse than anything he dealt with during his career.

“For the whole country, you’re probably talking billions of dollars lost.

“Wasps are bad enough. The German and the common wasp used to cost us when we were a business something like $100,000 a year.

“And when the number of those gets up in a rural environment, they just eat everything. And there’s nothing left for the birds to eat. So something a lot worse than them, that would be an absolute bloody disaster.”

He said harmful species entering the country was not ideal, but almost inevitable.

“We have gaps in our biosecurity the size of containers. A queen yellow-legged hornet is half the size of your little finger. And it’s very, very difficult to find something like that. Obviously better and cheaper to stop them in the first place, but without curtailing trade, it’s virtually impossible.”

“I’d love to have better biosecurity, but the main thing is if it gets here, that they do something about it.”

The government had committed $12m to cover the cost of the hornet response until the end of June 2026.

Berry said that the investment was absolutely worth it.

“If you can catch it when it’s small and jump on it and spend millions of dollars to kill it while you’ve only got a couple of hundred of them, it’s an awful lot cheaper than ever trying to wipe out tens of thousands.

“I think they could possibly spend some more time trying to just check around over the whole of the country to make sure that there isn’t something popping up. But I think you’ll find that pretty well every beekeeper in the country will be looking.”

Fruit fly battle ongoing

In the central Auckland suburb of Mount Roskill, biosecurity staff were also trying to eradicate an obnoxious fruit fly from Australia.

Restrictions on the movement of fruit and vegetables are in place in the area after a single male Queensland fruit fly was found in a surveillance trap in January.

Kris Robb, the manager at Clyde Orchards, was hopeful that the fruit fly would not get to them in the South Island.

“It’s obviously concerning to the industry, but personally, I think we’ve got full faith in the processes in place to be able to contain it.

Our biosecurity measures are as strong as any country in the world. They do the best job they can to stop these incursions. It’s just unfortunate that the odd bug gets through. That’s a risk of a global economy.”

There have been 15 previous incursions of different fruit fly species in Auckland and Northland since 1996, and all have been successfully eradicated.

In a statement to RNZ, Biosecurity said only a small number of pests made it through the border, and that this was the first time the yellow-legged hornet had been detected here.

“It is impossible to eliminate the risk of live organisms getting past the border without stopping all trade and travel – something that would be unacceptable to most New Zealanders.

“Even with fully closed borders, some pests and diseases would still reach New Zealand through natural means such as wind, ocean currents or migratory species. Because some risk will always exist, Biosecurity New Zealand’s approach is to reduce this to an acceptable level.”

It said there were multiple safeguards in place to stop harmful pests from getting into the country.

“Biosecurity New Zealand operates a multilayered defence system that works offshore, at the border, and within New Zealand to stop harmful pests from entering the country. The system includes strict import rules for potential risk goods (eg. produce), screening of cargo, passengers, mail and vessels, detector dog teams, and surveillance programmes, including more than 36,400 insect traps nationwide.

“High-risk sites such as ports and approved facilities that receive international cargo are routinely inspected. Any insects detected that could pose a biosecurity risk are tested and dealt with immediately.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/16/why-aucklands-bug-problem-is-getting-worse/