Dunedin braces for rain
DUNEDIN City Council staff have been on standby overnight following a MetService warning of surface flooding and slips for the city as heavy rain continues to fall along the Otago coastline.
As snow hit parts of Central Otago and Queenstown yesterday, a wet onshore flow was expected to bring ‘‘significant rainfall to eastern Otago’’ today.
A MetService spokesman said the area was expected to receive 70mm to 120mm of rain between 9am yesterday and 9pm tonight.
DCC staff and contractors spent yesterday actively preparing ahead of the forecasted rain.
Chief executive Sue Bidrose said the ground was already very wet following recent rain, and further significant rain could cause flooding and slips and make driving difficult.
‘‘We’ll continue to closely monitor the situation and will be on standby overnight,’’ she said.
Staff and contractors checked stormwater and wastewater systems to make sure they were working well, and road maintenance contractors were out sweeping gutters around the city and doing additional checks of mudtanks in lowlying and highrisk areas.
Council also advised residents to clear their drains and gutters.
Sandbags were placed around the Radius Fulton resthome in South Dunedin yesterday afternoon as a precaution. Residents at the facility have had to be evacuated twice in the past three years because of flooding.
Some rural fords were closed yesterday ahead of the predicted heavy rain.
Late last night, State Highway 8, on the Ettrick side of Roxburgh, was closed due to flooding.
More than 30mm of rain fell yesterday, but MetService
warned between 6mm and 10mm of rain may fall each hour during peak intensities today, especially about the hills.
Otago Regional Council (ORC)
staff monitored river flows overnight.
A spokesman warned the Water of Leith and Silver Stream were expected to reach their
peak flows today, but river flows in the area were expected to be less than those in July 2017.
North Otago catchments were likely to receive the highest
rainfall and the Kakanui River was expected to reach peak flow this morning.
The ORC spokesman advised caution in the Pomahaka catchment today, but said the Clutha River at Balclutha was expected to remain within its channel.
Dunedin was hit by extreme weather yesterday, including large hailstones which fell on the Northern Motorway and a lightning strike on an Air New Zealand ATR600 near Dunedin Airport.
MetService advised Otago and Southland residents to keep uptodate with the latest forecast in case more areas were added to the warnings list.
Central Otago and Queenstown residents were mopping up last night after heavy rain and snow led to cancelled flights, power outages, and downed trees.
Snow forced the closure of the Crown Range Rd and State Highway 94 between Te Anau and Milford for several hours yesterday.
MetService meteorologist Tui McInnes said while snow in November was ‘‘not unheard of’’, it was unusual.
‘‘Since severe weather warnings and watches began in 1990, we’ve issued snow warnings and watches five times in the month
of November.’’
Queenstown Airport remained open yesterday, but some flights were delayed or cancelled.
The weather also led to power outages around Arthurs Point, Dalefield, and Lower Shotover.
A total of 537 customers in the Wakatipu area were without power for several hours after snowladen branches fell from
trees and hit power lines in Dalefield.
Power was restored to Arthurs Point about noon and to Dalefield about 3.30pm.
A Queenstown Lakes District Council spokesman said contractors were kept busy clearing fallen trees in Arrowtown, as well as checking other trees around the district for safety.
An 18yearold man suffered minor injuries after crashing a car into a tree on Queenstown’s Gorge Rd at 3am yesterday, police said.
About 2cm of snow settled in Naseby, but heavier snow closed the Dansey Pass Rd and part of Auripo Rd in the Ida Valley.
There were also multiple rock falls and surface flooding
throughout the region.
A heavy snow warning remains in place for Northern Southland, Central Otago, and the Southern Lakes District until 9am today.
A MetService spokesman said strong and cold southtosoutheasterly winds would continue to bring wintry conditions to the region until late today.