A state of emergency was declared in Westland at 5.45pm yesterday, shortly after the Waiho River Bailey bridge on State Highway 6 at Franz Josef was wiped out. A slip at Candys Creek on State Highway 73 had closed the highway through Arthur's Pass overnight. Jason Schonberger, a Kiwi Experience bus driver from Dunedin, said he heard the ''biggest crack'' as the Waiho bridge fell away. Much of the West Coast is cut off after a section of the Waiho River bridge was swept away. The Waiho River was running at 7.6m and had dropped from its peak, while the Hokitika River was at 5m and rising.

Source: Otago Daily Times March 26, 2019 18:11 UTC