The Otago Regional Council today said its staff had been busy assessing tree damage across the province.
Wild winds that tore through Otago and Southland on October 23 downed trees and skittled power poles, closing roads, damaging structures and cutting power to thousands.
As of yesterday only 115 customers remained without power, but the clean-up effort is set to continue for some time yet.
ORC’s Acting Team Leader River Management Simon Whitton said the council's engineering staff had been inspecting the Lower Clutha, Toko, Shag River and the lower Taieri flood protection and drainage schemes.
“We’ve had staff out on the ground since the high winds and this week are undertaking helicopter surveys to quickly and accurately locate all trees that might require removal from rivers in more remote locations across Otago,” Whitton said.
“This survey work will help us to identify fallen trees, assess the risk, if removal is required and plan the work required in each catchment. We will act where they present a flood risk and or could be swept downstream and damage bridges or culverts, create a dam or exacerbate erosion.”
He said that so far, no significant damage had been identified to bridges or flood infrastructure, but numerous privately owned fences, including riparian fences, had been damaged or destroyed.
Timeframes to clear the trees and debris were still being determined, but the work programme could expand from weeks to potentially months, Whitton said.
While in many locations stands of willows were downed, Mr Whitton says overall there was a mix of trees damaged, including gum, poplar and macrocarpa.
Investigations so far
So far staff from ORC’s River Management Team have completed multiple walkovers, primarily around the Pomahaka, Tokomairiro, Lovells Creek and Shag rivers.
A heli flight on Monday took place around the Milton, Lawrence, Catlins and South and West Otago areas; the waterways being the Tuapeka, Wetherston, Waitahuna, West Tokomairiro, North
Tokomairiro, Pomahaka, Waipahi, Heriot Burn, Waiwera, Kuriwao, Tahakopa, Puerua, McClennan, Kaihiku and Owaka.
A further heli survey also took place on Tuesday on the Taieri, Kyeburn, Swinburn and Shag rivers.
ORC’s Manager Science Tom Dyer said work to date was being funded out of existing budgets for river management.
“Weather events often require us to respond by reprioritising planned work programmes,” he said.
“Inspections and customer inquiries are expected to continue over the coming weeks and will help build a comprehensive understanding of the storm’s impact on local infrastructure, but if you have tree damage on your property that you think we should know about, please get in touch,” Dyer said.
- Allied Media
