Otago Regional Council are closely watching river levels and remind people to prepare for high flows and keep away from low lying flood prone areas particularly the Leith, Lindsay Creek, Silver Stream and Henley sites.

Water and monitoring alerts

“Waitaki District and Dunedin City Councils have activated their Emergency Operations Centres,” said Matt Alley, Emergency Management Otago, Group Manager.

“We continue to monitor the rainfall across the region and watch for any impacts that this may have. The ground is really saturated following the last few weeks of wet weather and we may see slips, surface flooding by the end of the day.”

Waka Kotahi have advised that SH8 Twizel to Omarama and SH83 Omarama to Pukeuri are closed to towing vehicles and open with extreme caution to all other vehicles. SH8 from Omarama & Tarras is closed to all traffic due to snow.

Residents are reminded to check their Council websites and Facebook pages for local roading updates and boil or conserve water notices and to ensure their household plan, emergency supplies including stored water and getaway kits are prepared and to drive to the conditions.