The man who helped a survivor of the Silver Stream four-wheel-drive accident which resulted in a death last night says drivers need to be more wary of the power of water.
Police recovered a body this morning after a vehicle was swept away while attempting to cross a ford at Silver Stream in North Taieri.
Emergency services were first called to the area about 9.12pm, a police spokeswoman said.
Two of the vehicle's occupants were able to get out, but a third remained unaccounted for last night.
Their body was found inside the vehicle this morning, she said.
Otago Regional Rescue Helicopter chief pilot Graeme Gale said the rescue team had to deal with ‘‘extremely tricky’’ conditions last night with wild weather, poor visibility and low cloud.
A lot of people were involved and many manoeuvres were tried, including winching somebody down to the vehicle, but the outcome was ‘‘dreadful’’ and unfortunate.
A spokesman for the Dunedin City Council said the road was closed shortly after 1pm yesterday "based on our expectation conditions would become treacherous, and signage was put in place on both sides of the road at either end of the series of fords which span Silverstream Valley and Flagstaff-Whare Flat Roads."
The closures were also notified on the council's website, he said.
"It is heart-breaking news to learn of last night’s incident and we send our condolences to the person’s family."
Shaken and soaked
One of the two who escaped the vehicle showed up at the house of Dave Warren after the accident.
The other person remained at the scene.
Mr Warren said the man appeared outside the house late last night, shaken and soaked.
They brought him inside, called emergency services and warmed him up with dry clothes, some tea and a blanket.
The man was in shock and it took a while to understand what had happened.
Mr Warren said he understood there had been some debate whether or not they should drive through the ford before the accident, and the occupants saw no road closed signs or markers.
It was unfortunate they had made the wrong choice.
It was a "miracle" the man made it to their home, as he walked through two creeks that were as high as he had ever seen them.
After a few hours the man’s mother picked him up, he said.
It was not the first time something similar had happened.
His family have lived in the area for about 20 years and he could remember at least three deaths in the fords.
One was after a trio of trampers had gone through the area and one had been swept away.
One of them had knocked on their door after the event as well.
Although there were trampers in the area, 4WDs were the biggest offender.
He regularly saw them going through the fords when it was high and a lot of them did not respect the area or the power of the water.
"If the water’s up, keep away.
"It’s a killer."
He believed more safety precautions were needed, such as gates over the fords and more signage.
Melanie Helm, who runs a scout camp nearby, said heavy rain had made the Silver Stream river high and swift.
"It's very sad to hear that but I can't believe people even tried to cross that river. Last night when I was out there it was very swift - you couldn't tell it was a ford."
Otago Recreational 4WD Group president Graeme Thompson said the accident was unfortunate and any driver needed to know their own and their vehicle’s capabilities.
If there was any question about if a manoeuvre was a good idea, then "nine times out of ten" the smarter option was to not do it.
If the water reached above the centre hubs of a vehicle then it could float, which was lower than some people expected.
Police are continuing to make enquiries in relation to the death.
- additional reporting RNZ
