Dunedin’s state of emergency has been lifted, however the Emergency Operations Centre remains active as the recovery from yesterday’s flooding gets underway.

Over 108mm of rain fell in the city yesterday, including about 56mm between noon and 4pm. Only light drizzle has fallen overnight and floodwaters have now largely receded.

Mayor of Dunedin Dave Cull says no significant further rain is forecast and the focus is now on helping the community to recover.

“It was great to see the whole community – residents, businesses, emergency services, health, DCC staff and contractors and many others – working together to get through yesterday’s flooding,” he says. “The early and proactive preparations by all involved ensured that the community coped as well as it possibly could with the downpour.”

DCC Chief Executive Sue Bidrose says, “So far, we are aware of 13 properties, most of them in South Dunedin, which had floodwater enter living areas yesterday. Our building inspection and environmental health teams are out this morning assessing the affected homes.

“We urge anyone who had floodwater enter their living areas and hasn’t let us know, to call us on 03 477 4000 or register on the DCC website at www.dunedin.govt.nz/adverse-weather so we can provide assistance as needed,” Dr Bidrose says.

Roads
Most roads around the city have now re-opened, although some closures are still in place including a number of fords in the rural network.

Ruskin Terrace and Edwin Street are currently closed due to sewage contamination. Contractors are currently cleaning the streets to re-open them as soon as possible.

Closures are also in place around Hoopers Inlet and Papanui Inlet due to surface flooding.

Aramoana Road, and the areas around Marne St, Portsmouth Drive and Portobello Road may continue to experience surface flooding, particularly around high tides.

There have been no major problems with slips, but contractors have cleared some small slips as they work around the roads. Assessments of existing slip sites from the July floods will be by geotechnical engineers from Friday morning.

Anyone who needs to drive through streets with surface flooding should slow down to reduce the amount of floodwater washed into property or businesses.

All floodwaters should be treated as contaminated.

A full list of road closures and conditions is available at www.dunedin.govt.nz/road-conditions.

Wastewater discharges
As a result of the heavy rain, there were some minor wastewater overflows to waterways and the harbour. These are emergency overflows to prevent wastewater backing up and running on to private property or roads.

Wastewater is currently discharging into the Water of Leith near Malvern Street. We advise people to stay out of this waterway over the weekend.

There is still a discharge to Otago Harbour near St Leonards due to failure at the West Harbour wastewater pump station. This will be repaired by 2pm.

The emergency outfall at Lawyers Head was opened last night, and there was an overflow to the Silverstream in Mosgiel. Both have now stopped.

It is recommended people stay out of all waterways, Otago Harbour and Tomahawk Beach until at least Monday.

Sandbags
There was high demand for sandbags yesterday. Sandbag collection is being organised. It will likely begin today and continue over the weekend. People can now put sandbags on the kerbside for collection. More details will be made available once confirmed.

Rubbish collection
Most collections went ahead as normal yesterday, but rubbish and recycling could not be collected from some streets in Mosgiel due to flooding issues. Collections will be done on the streets below on Saturday. Bags and bins should be out by 7am. DCC rubbish bags - Murray Street, between Nairn and Lorne Streets, Stirling Crescent, Walnut Place. Yellow-lidded recycling bins: Lanark Street, Glasgow Street, Hartstonge Avenue

Sportsgrounds
People are arriving in town for the Masters Games which begins tomorrow. The DCC is working with event organisers to arrange any changes to the programme, but it is expected most events will go ahead as planned. Any changes will be advised by organisers.

Freedom Camping
Freedom camping sites are being assessed this morning. Warrington Domain will remain closed until this is completed. We will update later in the day.

For the public to keep up to date with what is happening and for advice, 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/adverse-weather
www.facebook.com/DunedinCityCouncil
https://twitter.com/DnCityCouncil

ENDS

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