Remote islands prepare for tail end of Pam

CHATHAM ISLANDS – Winds are gusting to 110kmh and rain has been pouring on the Chatham Islands all night, as residents await ex-Cyclone Pam.

“Everyone is hunkered down,” Mayor Alfred Preece said shortly before 8am on Tuesday (NZ time). “We’ve had plenty of lead-in time to prepare in good weather.”

A civil defence emergency was declared on the islands, home to about 650 people, on Monday afternoon.

The Chatham Islands form an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about 680 kilometres southeast of mainland New Zealand. It consists of about ten islands within a 40-kilometre radius, the largest of which are Chatham Island and Pitt Island.

Preece said wind gusts had been picking up strength since early morning, with the strongest recorded at about 110kmh.

Low-lying properties by fishing harbours on the northern coast were vulnerable to heavy weather and sea conditions from the northeast, but overnight the wind had shifted to the southeast and was due to move further to the south.

“That’s taken a wee bit of pressure off those vulnerable areas,” Preece said.

Many of the people who lived in the low-lying northern areas had moved away of their own accord, while others had been encouraged to move, he said.

MetService expected winds to peak at the Chathams during the middle of Tuesday, with gusts of 130kmh to 160kmh.

Heavy rain was expected until the evening.

The northerly swell could rise to six metres, with a four-metre easterly swell developing.

At midnight Pam was 400 kilometres east of the North Island and 500km north of the Chathams, MetService said. It was expected to be about 260km northeast of the Chathams at midday and to continue on a southeast track.

“The system is intensifying as a mid-latitude cyclone, and is moving southeast away from New Zealand’s North Island,” the forecaster said.

Preece said residents had been able to secure anything capable of being blown away, while fishing communities had been able to take their boats off the beaches and secure them on higher ground.

“People have taken the advice to stay home and have the day off, and possibly the day off tomorrow,” the mayor said.