Dozens of Balclutha households prepared for the worst yesterday, as relentless flood waters looked set to enter the town.
Civil Defence issued a warning to residents in the town’s ‘‘low-lying areas’’ yesterday morning, advising them to prepare to evacuate at short notice.
The crisis arose after council contractors conducting a safety inspection at dawn identified unexpected seepage from a secondary flood bank at the Hospital Rd retention pond.
The pond had filled following continual heavy rain, after a relief valve was closed by contractors on Monday to prevent uncontrolled flooding.
It drains the elevated Hospital Rd residential area, and empties via a creek passing through Balclutha’s low-lying western suburbs and main street, which can flood during extreme events.
Evacuation was advised, but not enforced, Clutha Mayor Bryan Cadogan said.
‘‘In the unlikely event it breached, it would go quite quickly, although at a relatively low level.
‘‘But the risk was there, so as a precaution we advised people to stay temporarily with family or friends, or at the very least place valuables and electronics a bit higher up.’’
The advisory remained in place at 5.30pm, although Mr Cadogan said the situation had by then ‘‘stabilised’’.
Otago Regional Council monitoring showed the river’s flow peaked about 1pm, at 3200 cumecs, and had begun to fall yesterday afternoon.
‘‘We’re continuing to monitor the situation closely. Things are showing signs of improvement.’’
Following the closure of the Owaka Highway, more 50 people stayed overnight Tuesday at a welfare centre in the town’s Cross Recreation Centre — and Mr Cadogan said even more ‘‘guests’’ were expected last night.
‘‘Since State Highway 1 is closed south of Clinton, we’ve had a lot of motorcyclists stop here en route to the Burt Munro [Challenge], so we’re expecting to put up as many as 80 tonight.
‘‘Whatever the weather, we’ll give them a warm Clutha welcome.’’