Floodwaters close roads around Gore
It was ‘‘touch and go’’ as to whether a main Southland road would be affected by flooding last night.
Late yesterday afternoon, a Southland District Council spokesperson said Tokanui Gorge Rd could be affected by floodwaters later in the evening.
The Mataura River at Wyndham looked to be peaking earlier, but it had started to rise slowly again and looked as if it would peak just at the threshold of affecting Tokanui Gorge Rd, the spokesperson said yesterday.
The Mataura River peaked at 2.787m at Mataura at 9.30am yesterday. That was only just under the threshold (2.8m) for water to affect Tokanui Gorge Rd.
Paddy’s Alley and Nokomai Rd, in northern Southland, and roads in the Ardlussa area had reopened with some minor surface damage from floodwaters.
A large tree got hung up on the Irthing Stream bridge on Tuesday, closing Lowther Rd, but engineers checked the bridge and cleared it for use, the spokesperson said.
The Gore District Council closed some roads after the Mataura River rose ‘‘significantly’’ overnight on Tuesday, it said.
Yesterday afternoon, Woolwich St from Huron St to Boundary Rd, Maitland St from the stopbank west, and River St from Hyde St to Bury St and from Clover Export’s plant to Salford St all remained closed to traffic.
Environment Southland issued an update at 3.30pm yesterday advising that the Mataura River was dropping, except at Seaward Downs, where it was 2.86m above normal and rising 25mm an hour.
The Oreti River at Wallacetown was also dropping, the update said.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency had a warning in place for rockfalls on State Highway 94 from Kingston to Frankton, and road users were advised to take extra care when travelling through the area.