Counting cost of flooding

Councils and the NZ Transport Agency are counting the cost after a month of unsettled weather which has resulted in rivers bursting banks, landslips and roads being washed out.

Southland District Council strategic manager transport Hartley Hare said at this stage the exact amount of the cost of repairs was unknown but would be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

‘‘The full extent is difficult to gauge as the clean-up and repairs are being completed. Some areas are requiring more work while other areas are requiring less.’’

The Otapiri Gorge area was the worst hit, he said.

The council will be making an emergency works funding application to the agency for additional funding. Council had some provision for emergency works within the current threeyear programme, Hare said.

The majority of repairs were road and slip repairs.

Critical repairs were anticipated to be completed prior to Christmas to get the road safely operational under temporary traffic management, however, there would be ongoing repairs in the first quarter of the new year.

Gore District Council roading manager Peter Standring said the council had spent about $20,000 because of recent flooding.

‘‘That was on actual man hours getting out there and assessing and reporting on the roading situation and putting out signage.’’

Rainfall had been isolated in the district, and the worst damage had been on December 2 when a thunderstorm washed out McGibbon Rd, with reports of 63mm of rain in an hour.

The latest repair estimate for Coastal Otago, which includes Clutha, was $1.2 million.