River bursts banks
The Southland town of Gore has flooded, with the Mataura River bursting its banks.
Gore residents were evacuated but started returning to their homes yesterday evening, while Mataura and Wyndham residents were expected to have to wait longer.
Civil Defence controller Ian DavidsonWatts made the decision to allow people who live in Gore to go home after assessments of the river flows and the condition of the flood bank in the town.
More than 2400 Gore residents were evacuated.
Chris Couzens, a pensioner in Mataura, about 11 kilometres south of Gore, said he and his wife were taken to the police station after they did not want to leave their dog, caged parrots and pedigree poultry behind. ‘‘Our animals were perfectly savable.’’
Civil Defence said the river breached stopbanks at Salford St in Gore, by the old Gore Hospital.
There were also reports of power cuts in the central business area.
A civil defence spokesperson said it was unknown whether any properties had been flooded. ‘‘There is a concern about the [wastewater] ponds. We would urge people to treat all floodwaters as being contaminated, and to boil water for at least a minute before drinking it, as per the boil water notice that has been issued.’’
Residents in the towns of Mataura and Wyndham were also ordered to evacuate, with locals advised to get to higher ground.
The Defence Force confirmed a Royal New Zealand Air Force NH90 helicopter was tasked with helping to evacuate people from a rest home in Wyndham, a small town about 5km from Edendale in Southland.
Eighteen residents of Wyndham and Districts Community Rest Home were evacuated to Mimihau Hall in Wyndham yesterday and were then taken to Southland Hospital by helicopter.
In addition to the helicopter which left RNZAF Base Ohakea for Invercargill yesterday morning, two Unimogs and personnel were helping to evacuate people.
The farming community has taken a massive hit, with many rural properties having extensive flooding around them.
Minister of Agriculture Damien O’Connor declared an adverse event, committing an initial $100,000 for the Rural Support Trust.
Farmers will have lost crops and the cost of rebuilding fences will be significant, but he said the cost of the flood was impossible to assess right now.
One of the biggest worries for emergency services and Civil Defence was protecting the 10,000 tonnes of ouvea premix stored at Mataura. Gore District Council chief executive Steve Parry said he could not rule out
that ouvea premix being stored in the former paper mill was going to be a problem.
The class six hazardous substance would give off ammonia gas if it got wet, so people were evacuated from the area. The old paper mill was right next to the Mataura River. Volunteers sandbagged the building yesterday and left before the flood hit its peak.
A state of emergency remained in place in Southland following heavy rain.
At Milford Sound, 195 tourists remained trapped and many roads and schools were closed.