The clean-up from the weekend’s torrential rain had barely started before the recriminations began. Floods are a heart-breaking natural disaster. They tend to affect many rather than a few, and in their aftermath they can leave lingering for weeks and months the question as to whether one’s home is still habitable, and if so when and if the necessary repairs can be effected and afforded. Then there is the question, or the lingering suspicion, that even though Mother Nature is the culprit in chief that a human element could have been at play in the destruction caused, be that through urban design, lack of maintenance, lack of warning or the absence of proper flood defences. Dunedin has had its share of floods in recent years, and every time a rain warning is circulated for the South residents in the city — and in its southern suburbs and in Mosgiel especially — begin to feel nervous. Flooding on SH1 north of Oamaru. PHOTO: STEPHEN JAQUIERY That anxiety is only heightened when sandbagging stations are set up and evacuation centres open, as happened with commendable alacrity last weekend. Dunedin City Council was right to be pro-active in its response; quite apart from the very real threat that the looming rain band posed to the city, tensions about weather events have been heightened in recent weeks — especially for South Dunedin residents — by the controversial and at times acrimonious debate about the future of the low-lying suburbs. As it turned out, concerns about South Dunedin were largely groundless as a combination of the pattern of rainfall over the area and strenuous preparation meant that most of the precautionary measures were not needed. By Monday morning surface water was still pooled in the places where it always does during heavy rain, but it had encroached no further. However, Dunedin did not escape unscathed. West Harbour residents were cut off from the city by flood waters across SH88 and given the many people who live out there — let alone the fact it is the main route to Port Chalmers — serious thought will need to be given to how to protect that vital stretch of road. Mosgiel residents, who like South Dunedin folk have longstanding grievances about flooding in their streets, did suffer localised flooding and had some infrastructure fail at a vital time. Some residents feel poor maintenance of drains had been a factor in this; it is encumbent on the DCC to check if this was or was not the case, and address it if it was. The greatest impact of the heavy rain on the South was felt in North Otago in general and Oamaru in particular. Heavy rain warnings issued earlier Sunday had suggested that the region was going to be only mildly affected by the storm, but the cold front showed no respect to the territorial borders or meteorological modelling and dumped about 80mm on the area in just six overnight hours. Affected residents endured a terrifying night and about 20 fled their homes. A state of emergency was declared and it remains in force — sensibly, as more heavy rain is forecast for the South. Civil Defence Minister Mark Mitchell praised the Waitaki District Council’s response to the sudden drenching, but for many residents questions will remain about whether adequate and timely warning was issued about their imminent plight. Again, there are likely lessons to be learned and they will need to learned, and quickly, as the depths of winter finally strike the South.
