Dunedin responds to continued rain

Update #2 1.30pm

Dunedin (Thursday, 1 February 2018) – Civil Defence is advising Otago Peninsula and West Harbour residents to consider heading home early today for safety reasons.

DCC Civil Defence Controller Sandy Graham says, “More rain is forecast for this afternoon and we want to keep people off roads that may be affected by surface flooding at a peak time.

Keeping vehicles off roads with a lot of surface water means water is less likely to wash into properties.

Some Dunedin schools are closing early and residents who live on the Peninsula and in West Harbour are advised to talk to their employers about leaving work by mid-afternoon.
Dunedin City Council staff are contacting businesses that have previously been affected by flooding to see if they need any support.

Residents should be aware some roads are being closed as surface water increases. Detours are available. Visit www.dunedin.govt.nz/road-conditions for current road closures. Motorists should also follow road signs and contractor directions.

By midday, 46.4mm of rain had fallen in the city. Heavy rain is still expected around 2pm and a king tide is due about 5pm, which raises the groundwater level in places.

Schools

Civil Defence asked the Ministry of Education to contact all Dunedin schools to make sure they are aware of the forecast heavy rain. Some schools are closing early. This will reduce traffic at a time when heavy rain is forecast and key roads may be closed due to surface flooding.

Schools will let parents and caregivers know whether they are closing via their usual channels. Contact your school directly if you need further information.

Wastewater discharges

As a result of the heavy rain, there are some minor wastewater overflows to waterways around the city. These are emergency overflows to prevent wastewater backing up and running on to private property or roads.
As a precaution, the emergency outfall at Lawy
ers Head has been opened to alleviate pressure on the Tahuna wastewater treatment plant. At this stage, there has been no discharge from the outfall into the ocean.

A power outage in West Harbour means two wastewater pump stations are discharging into the Otago Harbour. This discharge will stop when the power is restored.

While the discharges contain sewage, it is diluted by stormwater and groundwater entering the network. However, it is recommended that people stay out of waterways during heavy rain.

As required, the DCC has notified the Southern Medical Officer of Health, Otago Regional Council, Iwi and other organisations of the discharges.

Sandbags

People concerned about rising water can pick up sandbags from the locations below. Sandbags are filled and ready to be collected. Hundreds of sandbags have been collected so far.
• South Dunedin – car park behind St Clair Tennis Club, Victoria Road
• Mosgiel – Memorial Park car park beside the stadium/Mosgiel Memorial Gymnasium

Roading
Contractors are responding to callouts. Rural roads with fords are being closed. There is surface flooding and some small slips on Portobello Road. The road is still open but may need to close if conditions worsen. There are also some small slips on State Highway 88 and around Brighton.

At this stage, rubbish collections are being carried out as usual.

The freedom camping site at Warrington Domain has been closed due to wet ground.

No issues for tourism operators have been reported at this stage.

The DCC and Civil Defence continue to closely monitor the situation. The Dunedin Emergency Operations Centre remains open to monitor and co-ordinate the situation.

For the public to keep up to date with what is happening and for advice about what to do if the rain gets worse, please see the DCC website, DCC social media, listen to the radio and use other media. You can call us on 03 477 4000.

Please refer family, friends and neighbours to these communication channels.
www.dunedin.govt.nz
www.facebook.com/DunedinCityCouncil
https://twitter.com/DnCityCouncil

ENDS

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