1957: Stopbanks collapse, homes evacuated

Floodwaters near Balclutha. Photo from <i>ODT</i> files.
Floodwaters near Balclutha. Photo from <i>ODT</i> files.
November 21: The flood defences of Balclutha have withstood the battering of the overcharged Clutha River, but a collapse of the stopbanks above Stirling caused the evacuation of the town, and it is expected that parts of Kaitangata may also be flooded by this morning.

The river overflowed its banks on to the low-lying areas past Balclutha about midday, and early in the afternoon the water could be seen from the air flowing over them as though they were weirs. Thousands of acres of rich farmland in Inch Clutha and surrounding areas were inundated.

Railway employees and volunteers worked desperately during the day and night, sandbagging the area around the Balclutha railway station to keep the floodwaters from entering the town, and the nearby landing field of the South Otago Aero Club had only a forlorn windsock marking its position under feet of water. Police and volunteers evacuated elderly people and children from homesteads in badly flooded areas.

While Balclutha's defences withstood the force of the raging Clutha yesterday and early this morning, the force of water burst through the floodbanks a mile above Stirling.

There was nothing then to stop its surge towards the houses on the lower levels of the town.

Hundreds of volunteers fought to keep the water out of Balclutha from both sides as the river rose last night and the banks weakened.

The highway through the town was covered by water almost a foot deep, which had gathered from the downstream side. The water was being held from the side along the line of the railway, which forms a wide barrier. The level rose above the line, but was held by sandbags.

The railway yards, the front of the railway station and parts of the line itself were covered with several feet of water.

Mr A. J. McD. Miller, chief engineer for the Otago Catchment Board, said the situation was extremely serious. There was no doubt that the water would "roar through Stirling." He added that the rise in the township would not be sudden. The front of the moving water would pass through before it started to deepen.

The desperate defence work on the main banks last night was capped when the most important bank in the area - the Hermitage floodbank - broke immediately upstream of Stirling. An estimated 10,000 acres, including 6,000 acres of the island of Inch Clutha, was under water at midnight.

November 23: The floods in Otago continued to recede yesterday, but settlers in many areas are not yet able to start restoring their farms. Yesterday a gap was blasted in the floodbank to clear water from the Stirling basin. The river burst through the Inch Clutha defences and further eased the upstream pressure.

With the Clutha River dropping steadily at Balclutha, the period of crisis is past for the borough.

Mr A. J. McD. Miller, chief engineer for the Otago Catchment Board, said yesterday that the flood was "one of the worst in the recorded history of South Otago."

 

 

Add a Comment