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SATURDAY’S flooding in Te Kūiti brought the Mangaokewa Stream to its highest levels since 2004 when ex-tropical cyclone Ivy rolled across the North Island, mayor John Robertson said.
A state of emergency was declared as council and civil defence staff were faced with accumulating factors, a rising river, houses beginning to be evacuated, night approaching and a forecast for the rain to continue.
“We went through our emergency decision on Saturday night,” John said. “In hindsight, I’m really pleased we did that. It’s a big call.
“We watched the event and the whole process you go through. At about 6pm, we decided to look at whether to call the emergency. It took an hour to consider all the information.
“I’m really pleased we made that call. The headquarters, the emergency operations centre (EOC) was set up at council, so right through ‘till about 5pm Monday we probably had 12-20 people working to watch the events and help. So, it really worked well.”
According to the NIWA historical events catalogue, the 2004 flood was a 100-year return event. As was the 1958 flood that inspired the construction of the Ōtorohanga stopbanks.
Saturday’s flood was almost at the peak level of 2004, John said. He’s keen to see the review which may be presented to the Waitomo District Council meeting on February 28, because of what can be learned from the flooding – where the flood areas are and why.
“I think we are still in recovery phase but that (review) will happen, if not the next council meeting, the one after; but it will need some real thought on stormwater piping underground. We know some of the stormwater systems underground are not in the best condition. This will help us understand a bit more about that.”
Also concerning is that as weather events unfold that are more extreme, councils have to think about designing for them.
“As Auckland is going through now, you build in low-lying areas, that is high risk – and we all learn from that,” he said.
Te Kūiti was built on low ground, he said. And it was surrounded by slip-vulnerable hills.
“The difference with Auckland is we are so lucky as a small community. We have a really neat community in terms of support for something like this. People put their hands up to help and fill the gaps where we needed them.”
Ōtorohanga mayor Max Baxter is pleased the stopbanks proved resilient. The stopbanks were built following floods in 1958 which inundated much of the town.
“I went for a good drive Sunday, the stopbanks were holding up fine, all systems in place, very pleased with my own staff response in terms of ensuring that everything was working well – when we consider the pressure that Waitomo was under and the roads were impassable, SH37, Waitomo Valley Rd, even SH3 at that stage.
“Saturday night, Sunday was a really good test and I think there will be a good debrief afterwards in terms of what the council response has been. Certainly, the discussions I’ve had this morning, everybody’s pleased, a few learnings still in comms, but all in all, very happy.
“I commend John on the decision he made, It’s always a tough call when you declare a state of emergency and I think under those very reasons cited, are the very reasons why you would call one when he did – just to ensure you have the best possible response under incredibly trying circumstances.”
Council staff were also checking the flooded caravan park to ensure the former rubbish dump under it wasn’t vulnerable to flood waters. There was no flowing water going around it, Max said.
