“The current estimated cost to date is $537,000 for Clutha District Council direct costs," council deputy chief executive Jules Witt said.
“There has been minor damage to [water] treatment plants, however the costs relate to cleanup. For example, three of our main parks remain closed due to extensive damage."
The council had no way of estimating the cost to private properties and utilities such as power distribution systems and many costs were non-insurable, such as fence and tree damage, he said.
Clutha district was under a formal state of emergency for two weeks, and at peak response, the Clutha District Council Emergency Operations Centre situation room had up to 30 people co-ordinating with Emergency Management Otago, NEMA, other councils and about 25-30 army personnel who door-knocked remote homes when communications failed.
"The biggest concern was the lack of power and lack of communication ... Generators were worth gold," Mr Witt said.
"There have been a lot of learnings."
The state of emergency is followed by a 28-day transition period, but Mr Witt said he expected recovery to take many months, and private cleanup would continue long after council work was completed.
Insurers have already logged thousands of claims across Otago-Southland after the October 23 event brought "biblical" winds — flattening trees, tearing off roofs and toppling power lines.
FMG has received more than 3000 claims worth more than $28million, including about 700 from Otago.
Nationally, about 10,000 claims have been lodged, up to 70% coming from the lower South.
PowerNet reported more than half its network was disconnected at peak, requiring nearly two weeks of reconnection work.
Clutha farmer Craig Whiteside said his own property escaped the worst, but he knew the district had pockets of heavy damage.
"It’s been pretty challenging ... We’d done a lot of tree maintenance but still lost a few trees and a few sheds," he said.
"So it took a bit of time and effort and we’re back operating at normal levels, but everyone says there’s always someone worse off. When you drive from Balclutha to Milton, there’s some pretty horrific-looking spots.
"That’s the beauty of farming. We can do all we like, but in the end the weather will kind of dictate to us."
