Phones down in NZ flood-stricken areas

Major flooding in New Zealand's deep south has knocked out residential phone lines.
The area has been inundated with rain for three days, forcing road closures and the
evacuation of more than 100 hikers.
The phone cable for the area was laid along a bridge which was washed away, a
Telecom spokeswoman told NZPA.
Telecommunications contractors were working on the problem and diverting emergency
calls to the nearest police station.
Phone calls to local numbers were still getting through, the spokeswoman said.
The MetService has warned more heavy rain is on the way for other regions of the
South Island on Monday and Tuesday.
The heaviest rain was expected between Otira, 160km northwest of Christchurch, and
George Sound in Fiordland, where 200mm to 350mm was possible in some places during
the next two days.
This rain is in addition to the significant amounts of the past two days, and bring
further rises in river and stream levels in Westland and Fiordland, and also to the
rivers of Canterbury and Otago that feed from the Southern Alps.
Meanwhile the first of up to 120 hikers have been evacuated from parts of Fiordland,
which had been flooded by the weekend rain.
Department of Conservation program manager Ross Kerr said 120 hikers on the Milford
Track had been holed up in three huts for the past two nights, but diminishing food
supplies meant evacuations were necessary.
Rainfall measuring 793mm had doused the Fiordland National Park and Southland
district since Saturday night and there was no sign of it letting up.
The hikers were being flown out of the area and taken to the head of Lake Te Anau,
where boats would ferry them to the town.
Flooding has caused extensive damage to fences and other infrastructure on farms in
the Te Anau Basin, while river levels continue to rise across Southland, Environment
Southland said.