Millions of dollars of damage
Major clean up begins in Southland on two fronts
Three days of intense rain. Two state of emergencies. And now a massive clean up is happening in two diverse areas of the south.
The overall cost of the damage to property, farms, state highways, roads, businesses and lost tourism dollars is likely to cost millions.
The state of emergency for Southland will stay in place until Tuesday when it will then be reviewed.
Civil Defence Minister Peeni Henare yesterday announced a further $100,000 of funding will be available for Southland and more support will be ongoing.
This goes alongside the $100,000 already signalled from the Rural Support Trusts to help farmers.
In five days emergency services and hundreds of volunteers have dealt with two major events. Rescuing stranded tourists in Fiordland to then evacuating thousands of residents in eastern Southland.
It all started in is already regarded as one of the wettest places in New Zealand – Fiordland.
Flooding and slips were triggered by 350mm of rain falling in 24 hours at Milford Sound and a further 300mm to 450mm of rain was forecast for other parts in Fiordland.
Emergency Management Southland controller Bruce Halligan said civil defence staff knew they were looking at a major event when it declared a state of emergency in Fiordland on Monday.
‘‘I think it’s fair to say that due to the amount of rainfall it was never just going to be a one dayer and it would be all over.’’
As roads closed and rain fell at a rate of 55mm an hour, EMS swung into action and set up a base at the Te Anau Community Centre.
But the rain event was far from over.
As EMS worked on the rescue in Fiordland, rain continued to pour and rivers in northern Southland, including the Mataura River and its tributaries, continued to rise.
The angry Mataura River kept rising and on Tuesday and 2400 Gore residents were evacuated and on Wednesday people Mataura and Wyndham had to leave as well.
A second state of emergency was declared.
The man in one of the leading positions of the response, Emergency Management Southland controller Angus McKay said Southlanders themselves had a big part in the success of how the major events were controlled.
‘‘The work we have been doing for the last few years with our communities, and really the success of what’s happened during the last few days, has been down to those communities standing up and looking after themselves for a lot of the time.
‘‘And it’s also been about us [EMS] putting people out to liaise with those communities and identify where the risks are and how we can help and support them.’’
McKay says there will be lessons to learn from the past five days.
‘‘We’ve not had a big civil defence emergency for a few years in Southland ... this week has been absolutely massive – it’s just been one thing after another ... we’ve got Fiordland and Milford still really impacted and we’ve got to get back to what we are doing there.’’
EMS was especially happy with the support from volunteers who took their time to be involved.
‘‘We know the Southland community was going to look after everyone and that’s exactly what happened. Everybody’s pitched in. Emergency services, councils, tourism operators, Red Cross ... absolutely everyone.’’
Civil Defence Minister Henare visited Mataura with Southland mayoral forum chairman and District Mayor Tracy Hicks yesterday.
Mataura was the hardest town hit by the flooding with up to 30 houses damaged.
Henare said: ‘‘Support will be ongoing – this is an initial response to the adverse weather event but we know that the recovery is going to take some time over rural sector, the tourism sector, and no doubt others.’’
Hicks said: ‘‘While there was lots of infrastructure problems and challenges we need to deal with quickly, the real issue is people and just making sure people are safe and secure in their homes and can carry on with their lives.’’
Hicks flew with the minister across the district and said it was good to have a minister here at this time ‘‘while we are facing such a challenge in the province.’’
‘‘While the water is receded and it has receded quite dramatically, the problem still remains and there will be still be many people in Mataura and places like that where they are going to struggle to get into their homes.
‘‘We need help ... certainly the resourcefulness of the Southland people is known across the nation, but it is always good to welcome someone from Wellington who can assist us in many ways ...’’
NZ Transport Agency journey manager Peter Brown said the clean up was ‘‘huge’’.
While other previously closed sections of SH94 had been cleared and re-opened, the damage sustained in the section between Cascade Creek and the Chasm was ‘‘very significant’’, and ‘‘the focus over the weekend and into next week will be on undertaking a full damage assessment in order to plan and prioritise repair work’’.
‘‘We know the Southland community was going to look after everyone and that’s exactly what happened. Everybody’s pitched in. Emergency services, councils, tourism operators, Red Cross ... absolutely everyone.’’ Angus McKay, Emergency Management Southland controller