Southland flood threat as swollen rivers rise

Press, 27 August 1980, Page 1

Southland flood threat as swollen rivers rise

?A Invercargill Parts of Southland were awash yesterday as floodwaters — some as high as in October, 1978, — swirled through northern, western and central areas of the province. The floods caused some transport disruptions and several homes were evacuated but few stock losses have been reported. More serious problems could occur today when the flood is expected to cover

Invercargill airport runway. The Oreti River peaked at Centre Bush early last evening at 2.87 m above normal, as high as the level in the flood of October, 1978. Flooding on the Waiau, Oreti, Aparima and Makarewa Rivers turned the whole of western Southland into a sheet of water.

While the threat to farmland from the Oreti may be decreasing now, the Mataura River in eastern South land is rising steadily. “The lower Mataura area

will certainly be under

water within the next two days,” said Mr N. A. McMillan, chief engineer with the Southland Catchment Board, last evening. Scattered showers are forecast, and the rain in the upper reaches of Southland rivers has eased. Floodwaters breached stopbanks just south of Dipton, closing State highway 94 and forcing at least two families to leave their homes.

A combination of high river levels and the opening by the Electricity Division of the Ministry of Energy of its Mararoa control weir caused serious flooding at Tuatapere. A Tuatapere farmer, Mr L. R. Horrell, said farmers were unprepared for the extra water brought down from Mararoa.

“By the time the Electricity Division released a warning that the weir was being opened, the water had already arrived and it was too late,” he said.

Stock losses are expected to be heavy. A helicopter from Lilburn Valley, seven jetboats and about 80 people were involved yesterday taking stock to higher ground.

On the West Coast heavy over-night, warm rain melted snow in the mountains and caused rivers to rise steadily all day. The Taramakau River was running at its highest level for some time, fed by the snow in the Alps, while the Big Grey and

Ahaura Rivers, which feed the Grey River, continued to rise for much of the day before peaking. The level of the Grey River was still very high at 11 p.m. but it was felt that it had reached its peak and would not cause widespread flooding. The river had dropped 0.6 of a metre at Dobson since 7 p.m. Some lowlying areas of Cobden and Greymouth are affected by surface flooding.