People asked to take extreme care and keep vigilant in Otago tonight

Surface flooding is affecting roads around the Tapanui area as the Pomahaka River in South Otago continues to rise due to the heavy rain. The roads around Kelso will be closed by 8pm.

It’s possible that the Pomahaka rising will also affect State Highway 90 and may cause surface flooding between Tapanui and Waikoikoi.

Emergency Management Otago (EMO) are asking people all over Otago to stay away from roads tonight as surface flooding will be a real concern as waters rise and rain continues to fall.

“Unless you absolutely have to, please avoid travel in the region as many parts of Otago are affected by this event. Roads may close and these will be sign posted. However, rivers and streams can rise fast and we don’t want anyone caught out by this,” says Group Manager for Emergency Management Otago (EMO), Matt Alley.

“Areas of concern from Otago Regional Council modelling so far show that people should be particularly wary rising waters of the Silverstream at Gordon Rd, on the edge of Mosgiel township; Balclutha, and the Pomahaka and coastal communities around the Tokomairiro area.”

“If you can do so safely, please move livestock to higher ground. Stock should be moved to areas which will be easily accessible in case they need assistance, supplementary feed, or veterinary treatment.”

Six Otago Regional Council river monitoring stations are currently in flood warning alert. These are:

• Pomahaka River at Burkes Ford estimated to reach 450 cumecs at midnight;
• The Clutha River at Balclutha expected to peak at 1900-2000 cumecs at midnight.
• Silverstream, including Mosgiel, estimated to reach 120 cumecs. There may be a spillover at the Gordon Road bridge around midnight tonight. The station is called Silverstream at Gordon Rd.
• Mill Creek pump station (Lower Taieri) – extensive monitoring of this pump station will be done to ensure this functions as it should.
• Leith and Lindsay Streams (including Dunedin) to peak around midnight tonight at 15 cumecs for Lindsay and 45 cumecs for Leith.

People are asked to ensure their household plan, emergency supplies and getaway kits are prepared and Mr Alley advises residents to keep away from low lying flood prone areas, not to drive through any flood water, act quickly to self-evacuate if you see rising water and be ready for power and communications outages.

We encourage people to keep up date through Emergency Management Otago Facebook page and website, Waka Kotahi and their local district and city councils .

ORC’s General Manager Science and Resilience Tom Dyer says ORC flood response crews responsible for flood control areas including the Leith Valley, Taieri/Silverstream and the Clutha schemes area have been preparing for the weather event. They have extra contractors on standby and have opened all Otago coastal river mouths as a precaution. Pumps on these schemes are also activated.

People needing information about river, stream and water flows can also visit the ORC environmental data portal off the council’s main page orc.govt.nz.

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