Otago waits to mop up
DOZENS of evacuated homes remained empty last night as floodwaters continued to inundate towns and settlements south of Dunedin.
Deluges that hammered the South Island’s lower eastern coast still plagued many rural settlements yesterday. Henley was without power and 35 homes were still evacuated.
Elsewhere on the Taieri, dozens of evacuations remained in place and 54 properties in the East Taieri area, 22 in the Silverstream area and 18 in the Mill Creek subdivision remained empty last night.
Smaller evacuations also remained in place throughout the city with small numbers reported in Mornington, South Dunedin, St Clair and Northeast Valley.
The regional state of emergency is expected to be lifted at 9am today as authorities move into the recovery phase following the downpour.
That marked the official beginning of the cleanup after more than 100mm of rain and heavy winds battered much of eastern Otago on Friday and Saturday.
Waitaki’s Emergency Operations Centre had closed, and Mayor Gary Kircher said the district was now in recovery mode.
The floods caused significant damage and sewage contamination in North Oamaru.
Emergency Management Otago group controller Chris Hawker, in Dunedin, said the move towards recovery did not signal any reduction in effort.
When floodwaters receded, the true extent of the damage and devastation caused would be revealed, Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull said.
‘‘The Taieri Plain, which has been the focus of our attention, has been really badly damaged,’’ Mr Cull said.
‘‘There’s a lot to do and there’s a long way to go.’’
‘‘There are still about 130 properties, mainly around Henley, that are still evacuated and it may still be some days before they can get back to their prop erties,’’ he said.
Some residents were evacuated from the settlement by helicopter on Saturday.
About 100 homes were also evacuated in Outram as floodwaters loomed precariously behind a floodbank, but by yesterday residents had been allowed to return to all but two homes affected by flooding.
Residents were advised to treat all floodwater as contaminated and authorities had received reports of sewage contaminating some properties in the wider Dunedin area.