Group Controller Chris Hawker said that Otago Regional Council Chairman Stephen Woodhead made the declaration at 7.30pm. “It gives us the ability to call on the resources of the NZ Defence Force as the impact of the flooding spreads,” he said.

Otago Regional Council’s flood managers are closely monitoring the Silver Stream, which has begun to overtop the spillway at Gordon Road and flood rural land outside Mosgiel.

Evacuations are occurring in some low-lying areas of Oamaru, Mosgiel and Dunedin. A house in Oterahura is also being evacuated and emergency management staff are assessing the extent of flooding in the Ida Valley.

Highways and local roads are also closed by flooding.

ENDS

Media contact - Michele Poole, duty public information manager, Emergency Management Otago - 0278398306