Flooding
in Dunedin after heavy rain
Heavy
rain has caused flooding in parts of Dunedin, prompting dozens of
calls for help to the Fire Service
Flooding around Hillside Road in south Dunedin at about midday today.
Photo: RNZ / Ian Telfer
3 June, 2015
The
Fire Service said people reported streets and homes being flooded,
especially in south Dunedin, after overnight rain.
The
bad weather continued today. State Highway One, from Abbotsford to
Kaikorai Valley Road, has been closed to northbound traffic due to
flooding.
Motorists
have also been advised to avoid the Southern Motorway between Mosgiel
and Andersons Bay Road unless travel there is absolutely necessary.
Dunedin
City Council road maintenance engineer Peter Standring said some
residents in south Dunedin were using sandbags to protect property
and were making plans to move out.
Mr
Standring said the stormwater system had reached saturation point.
"We're
seeing a lot of water actually coming back up out of mud tanks, so it
tells you our system is actually fully charged and pushing water back
up onto the roading network."
The
forecast was for more rain and Mr Standring said the flooding could
get worse at high tide this afternoon.
This resthome on Dunedin's Hillside Road has water in the hallways and several bedrooms.
Photo: RNZ / Ian Telfer
The
floodwaters have already swamped a rest home on Hillside Road and may
force the evacuation of its dementia win.
The
Radius Fulton rest home has water in the hallways and several
bedrooms.
The
facility's manager, Robyn Bowie, said it would know shortly if it
would have to evacuate 16 residents from its dementia win.
The
fire service has been sandbagging around the resthome but said it was
not sure if it could keep the water out.
Students
head home
Seaside
school St Clair said it had closed and most of its 450 pupils had
gone home early, with flooding limiting access to the school.
A
spokesperson said staff have phoned the parents of the remaining
pupils, asking that they be collected.
Bathgate
Park Primary School, on Macandrew Road, has not officially closed but
most of its students have been picked up early by their parents.
Principal
Whetu Cormick said there was already flooding around the school,
which is about two kilometres from the sea.
Mr
Cormick said he was concerned the situation would only get worse at
high tide, with the school field already looking like a lake.
The
police said officers were attending a number of flooded areas in
Dunedin.
In
other parts of Otago, the New Zealand Transport Agency has also
issued a warning for drivers, with flooding on parts of State Highway
Eight between the Lindis Pass and Cromwell.
More
heavy rain forecast
A
heavy rain warning remains in place for Dunedin and Clutha with rain
not expected to ease until later tonight.
MetService
duty forecaster Emma Blake said 70 millimetres of rain had fallen
this morning.
"The
warning lasts through to 2am tomorrow morning," she said.
"We're
expecting between 80 to 100 millimetres to accumulate on top of what
has already fallen, especially about the ranges and also in the
vicinity of Dunedin City."
Flooding forces evacuations in Dunedin
Almost
a hundred people are being evacuated from a Dunedin resthome amid
torrential rain that swamped the city and an army unimog has been
used to ferry children home from school.
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