Evacuated residents are allowed back to their homes in Gore this evening as Southland begins to enter recovery mode from a massive flooding event.
Emergency Management Southland controller Angus McKay said at a briefing this evening that the situation in Gore was looking "really positive" and the about 2400 evacuated residents would be allowed back at 6pm.
Rivers were still running at close to peak levels in Mataura so while there had been no significant breached yet it was a case of "watch and wait".
Residents in Wyndham and closer to the coast would remain evacuated overnight.
Mr McKay was speaking as Civil Defence authorities and Rural Communities Minister Damien O’Connor updated the situation in Southland where a state of emergency remains in force.
Mr O’Connor, who had flown over the affected areas, said the response to the flooding event had been "absolutely amazing".
"It seems as though everything is under control ... but clearly we are going to have to wait and see when the water goes down the extent of the damage."
The Government has declared the flooding in Southland and Otago to be a medium scale adverse event, opening the way for extra support to be offered to farmers and growers.
$100,000 dollars is being made available through Rural Support Trusts to speed up recovery and provide technical advice.
Mr O'Connor said this was initial funding and more money may be available as the full extent of the damage to farms is revealed over the coming days.
Southland District Mayor Gary Tong praised the response from civil defence authorities and singled out the emergency response in Milford as "fantastic".
"The extensiveness of the damage in there is mind-boggling. It's a wonder we did not lose a life in there.
To get those 195 visitors out of there today was a good effort he said.
Mataura, Wyndham and large parts of Gore have all been evacuated and rising river levels have inundated ow-lying homes, businesses and farms in Gore.
DairyNZ reports more than 100 farms are affected and says it is a "dire situation for many right now"
Authorities have sought to allay fears of the threat posed by floodwater inundating an old paper mill in Mataura where chemicals are stored, but there remains a risk gas could be released if water reaches the chemicals.
Two New Zealand Army Unimog trucks, each with four soldiers from 2/4 Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment, were in Mataura this afternoon, where they were helping police evacuate people from the area.
NZDF liaison officers were working with Civil Defence Emergency Management Southland to coordinate tasks for the NZDF personnel and resources as part of the civil defence emergency in the region.
Southern District Health Board sets up emergency operations centre
Southern DHB has set up an emergency operations centre (EOC) in response to rising water levels in the Mataura River, with the risk of flooding, and road closures in the affected areas.
The EOC is currently working to support Civil Defence Southland, and to ensure staff and patients in facilities in the affected areas are safe from potential flooding, and that all health needs are met.
Southern DHB EOC is also assisting a number of age residential care facilities in the affected areas who are at risk of flooding to evacuate residents to alternate accommodation, and are currently coordinating placement beds.
18 residents of Wyndham and Districts Community Rest Home were evacuated to Mimihau Hall in Wyndham, Southland earlier today.
To ensure these residents receive the most appropriate care, the Southern DHB EOC has coordinated a helicopter to uplift the 18 residents from Mimihau Hall to Southland Hospital by helicopter.
Four of these residents will be cared for at Southland Hospital, and the remaining 14 will be taken to age residential care facilities in the Invercargill area.
