Heavy rain during the past 24 hours has resulted in many areas of surface flooding across the Upper Clutha with a number of road closures in place.

SH6 is closed between Luggate and Cromwell, the Haast Pass is closed, and the Cardrona Valley Road is closed due to flooding and slips.

Update 8am: SH6 Luggate to Cromwell is now open with caution advised.

Mount Aspiring Road is also closed due to the high level of the fords (water crossings).

The level of Lake Wānaka rose almost one metre yesterday to 278.475 metres, still well below the warning level of 279.4 metres.

A state of emergency was declared for Queenstown this morning (September 22) at 6.33am for an initial period of seven days in response to the current weather event.

The state of emergency does not apply to the Upper Clutha.

Mayor Glyn Lewers said the declaration was necessary given the considerable rainfall experienced by Queenstown over the last 24 hours.

“The current weather event is an active and evolving situation,” he said. 

“We have been working with emergency management throughout the night to assess the full extent of the situation in the current conditions.”

“Several flooding and debris events have been identified and we’re continuing to contact affected people including evacuating over 100 people.”

Residents across the district are being asked to avoid non-essential travel, and if travel is necessary to take extreme care.

Rain is expected to ease this afternoon

Rain is forecast to continue until later this afternoon (Friday September 22). Snow is forecast above 600 metres with heavy snow above 800 metres until 6pm tonight.

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