Mr Martin said he was pleased to have made the official declaration on behalf of the district, following the weather event of Thursday October 23.
"It is certainly great to be out of emergency mode and transitioning into recovery.
"A gargantuan effort has gone into getting us to this stage, and I’d like to personally thank all the people who have worked with us as a council, and especially the community, many of whom have done it hard through the past 15 days, without power, water and their usual resources. Your resilience and determination to get through has been a thing to behold.
"We know that the emergency phase was a sprint — a race to get the power on, the worst of the tree debris cleared so that our roads, infrastructure, towns and farms could function again.
"We also know that the recovery will be a marathon, a long road to get everything fixed, the fences repaired and for people to go about their normal lives again."
Clutha District chief executive Steve Hill said the council was well on the way to transitioning to recovery planning while also maintaining situational awareness.
"There is still much work that needs to be done in the aftermath of a weather event like this that had such widespread impact across the district. Power and communications will still need to be reinstated to some areas, and our water services infrastructure will still need ongoing repairs because of the amount of damage.
"We will be continuing to provide welfare support for those affected communities and assessing needs. Many people, particularly our rural community, will feel fatigue and frustration, even when the power and water is back on, because of the big cleanup and rebuilding task ahead. We will be here to provide support."
People with genuine need can apply to the Clutha District Mayoral Relief Fund.
— Allied Media
