Civil Defence stands down, roading assessment under way

Published: 20 July 2022

Ashburton Civil Defence has deactivated its emergency operations centre, though staff continue to keep an eye on flooding and other issues related to the orange alert rain event that affected the district this week.

The team reported a largely uneventful night, with flows in the Ashburton River continuing to reduce.

River engineers were keeping an eye on vulnerable spots in the north and south branches of the river, where new stopbanks had been formed after last year’s major floods. The Ashburton River peaked at 774 cumecs around 8pm last night – that compares to about 1600 cumecs in the floods of May 2021.

Mayor Neil Brown said the new flood protection work had held up, though the river had leaked out onto some adjoining properties.

“We are now in clean-up mode. Council’s roading team is out inspecting roads and lifting closures where it is safe to do so. We will see a full assessment of the state of the network after this rain event in a report for Councillors soon.

“In the meantime, we know there is damage to some of our roads, so please drive carefully and abide by closure signs or speed restrictions.”

A number of roads remain closed and the latest information is on Council’s live maps, on its website.

Mayor Brown said the State Highway 1 bridge over the Ashburton River was safe to use.

“Waka Kotahi was closely monitoring it for flows and for upstream debris, and had a crew on standby in case of developments.”

State Highway 77 remains closed between Blackford Road and Mt Hutt Station Road today because of a washout. The road may be open to single lane under traffic lights at 3pm today (Wednesday).

Boil water notices are in place for the Methven, Methven-Springfield and Mount Somers water supplies.

Residents connected to these schemes are advised to boil their drinking water, water used in food preparation, and for hygiene purposes for at least one minute before consumption.

Water tankers are in Methven and Mount Somers and people can bring their own containers to fill up with clean, safe drinking water.

Council staff are monitoring and testing water and will advise communities as soon as the notices are lifted.

Need to report an issue or help?

- For emergencies, please call 111 first to access applicable emergency services.

- If you are in a crisis situation, please call Rural Support Trust on 0800 787 254.

- If you are feeling anxious or need to talk to someone, free call or text 1737 any time for support from a trained counsellor.

- For all other support and assistance enquiries, contact the Council on 03 307 7700 (any time of the day or night). Report problems using the Snap Send Solve app, or email Council on info@adc.govt.nz.

- To receive important, free notifications about Council services in your area of the Ashburton District, including boil water notices, text your postcode to 4196.

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