Active monitoring of river levels continues

Horizons Regional Council is continuing to actively monitor river levels across the region with more rain forecast for today.
 

Horizons incident controller Craig Grant says river levels have dropped overnight however soils are saturated.
“For this reason we will be keeping a close eye on the situation this morning as to date the weather has been somewhat unpredictable and changing very quickly,” says Mr Grant.

“The key rivers that we’re watching are the Makino, Manawatū, Mangaone and Matarawa. Overall, our major river systems are coping as we’d expect however, all our catchments are saturated and it won’t take much to put pressure on them.

“At this point the Makino floodgates will remain closed to divert water away from the town and we will reassess this later in the day. The Moutoa floodgates will not be opening at this stage as the Manawatū is receding however, with more rain coming we are not ruling this out.”

Mr Grant says Horizons emergency management staff will be undertaking damage assessments on council’s flood assets today, including an aerial reconnaissance flight with Manawatū District Council which will also help identify isolated communities.

“We’re already aware of stopbank damage downstream of Feilding on the Makino and roads washed out in numerous locations,” he says.

“The Halcombe wastewater treatment plant has also been inundated with floodwaters and we are working with Manawatū District Council and Public Health on what this means for the upcoming days. This is a timely reminder for people to treat floodwaters as contaminated and stay out of them. 

“With the rain forecasted today there may be some more surface flooding however this is due to localised rainfall overwhelming stormwater networks rather than flooding from rivers and streams.

“We recommend taking extra care when driving and to not head out on any sightseeing trips.”

Up-to-date information on river heights and rainfall is available via Horizons 24 hour toll-free Waterline 0508 4 FLOOD or here.

Updates will also be posted to the Manawatū-Whanganui Civil Defence page.

For local road closures and welfare information please contact the city/district council and for weather forecasting information please see MetService