Trucks stopped in Taihape.
Photo: Supplied
A single bar of mobile phone coverage allowed people trapped by slips in rural Taihape to raise the alarm.
Cars stranded by a slip in rural Taihape are now free after a local farmer cleared a path through the slip with his tractor.
About 20 cars were stuck for several hours between a flood and a slip in the remote area of Turakina Valley Road with no cell coverage.
Rangitikei mayor Andy Watson said it was a classic situation of farmers knowing how to solve rural problems.
“A local farmer got stuck in with his tractor, carved a track through slips and released the cars,” he said.
He understood they were heading back to Taihape.
“They’re safe, they’re out and by the time the helicopter got there, there was no one to be found.”
Watson previously said he understood it was a local farmer who raised the alarm, calling emergency services to report what he could see.
It had been very hard to get information, he said.
It appears the cars took a back route after State Highway 1 was closed.
“They’ve found flood water that was too deep to drive through then slip has come down behind them and effectively blocked their path,” he said.
Manawatū-Whanganui group controller and Horizons Regional Council chief executive Michael McCartney told Checkpoint the group were understood to be stuck near a rising river and an airforce helicopter was prepared to rescue them.
He said power cuts caused problems with the mobile phone network and the location had poor coverage at the best of times.
McCartney said one of the motorists managed to call for help after accessing a single bar of coverage on his mobile phone.
A satellite phone would have made a big diffference, he said.
The council would open floodgates on the Manawatu River system this evening for 24 hours.
McCartney said some water treatment plants had lost power and were relying on generators.
Residents in the wider district have told RNZ there are trees blocking may roads, with people not able to get to work.
State Highway 1 has been closed around Taihape.
Watson said it some of the roads the cars took would normally only see “half a dozen” cars a day, he said.
Rangitikei District Council said contractors were working to clear debris, and it was working with Civil Defence on a response to the situation.
Police said they were notified at 12.30pm.
St John Ambulance said it had so far not been required.
Establishing communication the priority
Manawatū-Whanganui Civil Defence said its first priority was to establish communication with those who were trapped.
State Highway 1 was closed between Hunterville and Waiouru and people should not use Turakina Valley Road as a detour, it said.
Many other local roads were also closed.
People should avoid non-essential travel because the roads were treacherous from fallen trees and the possibility for landslides.
Winiata Marae opens to stranded travellers
About 80 people are sheltering at Winiata Marae, in Taihape, which has opened to stranded travellers.
The marae’s chairman Jordan Winiata said they were travellers who had become stranded, unable to reach their destinations.
“They’re stranded because of what’s happening on the highways, we’ve got some InterCity buses, just multiple travellers that would have been going from A to B that unfortunately have been caught in between the roads being open and closed.”
He said the marae was preparing to host those stranded overnight and had capacity for 300.
Winiata said the power was out at the marae, but they had a generator and running water and gas for cooking.
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