The storm, from July 20 to 22 last year, brought more than 100mm of rain in 24 hours, inundating more than 2000 homes in settlements south of Dunedin, as well as in Christchurch and Timaru.
The rain also caused millions of dollars’ damage to roads as slips came crashing down and road surfaces were stripped away.
Yesterday, nearly a year on from the event, council transport group manager Richard Saunders said the clean-up operation would continue well into its second year.
Council contractors had completed "well over 1000" repair jobs, including immediate response, clean-up and slip clearance work, he said.
That had been "a really big effort" by council staff and contractors, but there were still 22 larger slips left to fix around the city. Some of that work was under way, while other repairs were yet to begin, he said.
Four bridges also still needed to be repaired or replaced, including a new structure to replace the historic Sutton bridge, he said.
The clean-up of the council’s transport network had so far cost about $10 million, of which about 75% had been paid by the NZTransport Agency, he said.
A further $5 million was expected to be required over the next year to finish the larger projects.
Mr Saunders was confident the work would be completed before the end of the 2018-19 year.
"We’re really pleased with how that’s progressed and how quickly we have been able to get on to that work, but I think it just shows that in those major weather events that we do have in Dunedin, that it does cause significant challenges and can be very costly ... to bring our roading network back up to the normal level of service that we provide."
"We’ve got our fingers crossed we don’t get another large event this year, but it is something we know we will get again in the future."
In January, the Otago Daily Times reported the estimated cost of the storm had more than doubled, from about $25million in August last year to nearly $55 million.
The figures comprised costs incurred, or expected to be incurred, by the DCC, Otago Regional Council and NZ Transport Agency, as well as insurance claims received since the event.
Work to do
Flood recovery package sites still under way. —
South Rd; Taiaroa Head;
Brick Hill Rd; Coast Rd, Karitane; Mount Cargill Rd; Beach St, Port Chalmers; Dowling St; Second Beach.
Flood recovery package sites still to be delivered. —
Puddle Alley bridge; Waitati Valley Rd bridge; Waipori Falls Rd bridge; George King Memorial bridge; Church St; Mount Ross Road (Sutton) bridge; Waitati Valley Rd; Adderley Tce; Downs Rd; Mount Allen Rd; Stornoway St; George King Memorial Dr; Delta St; Queens St.
