A Stuff article.
A new Government-funded forecasting model is being developed that could give Westport residents hours of extra warning and time to evacuate in the event of disaster.
About half the West Coast town’s residents evacuated ahead of a devastating flood on July 17 that damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes.
Céline Cattoën-Gilbert, a hydrological forecasting scientist at Niwa, said the forecasts ahead of the event were accurate and the decision-making by the Buller District Council and the West Coast Civil Defence Emergency Management group has been appropriate.