More stranded trampers evacuated

Floodwater in Southland. Photo / NZPA

Twelve more stranded trampers will be flown out of flooded walking tracks today, a day after 120 were evacuated by helicopter from the Milford Track.

Days of heavy rains in Southland has caused surges of floodwater up to 4m high in its rivers, which are now flowing towards the rivers' lower reaches.

Phone communication to Te Anau was lost yesterday and expanses of farmland remain submerged.

The Department of Conservation's Wakatipu area office said it had confirmed today that a bridge on the Routeburn track was washed away by floods and 12 trampers would need to be flown out.

Doc Te Anau area operations ranger Hamish Angus said one side of the track had been blocked off and a lake above the track was full to the brim and any more rain could cause a deluge.

David Williams, a visitor from Britain, barely managed to get out from the track yesterday; just as his bus pulled out rivers surged, spilling on to the roads.

"I've never seen anything like it - the amount of water coming down the waterfalls and rivers was phenomenal."

To get out of the track, he linked arms with three other trampers and waded across rushing creeks, following a Doc warden who had lost radio contact with colleagues.

It had been tense but amazingly beautiful, Mr Williams said.

He had walked into the Routeburn on Saturday when it was relatively calm and had no idea that overnight the surroundings would become so fierce, he said.

With the entrance blocked, the option of turning back was gone. They slowly made their way from hut to hut on Sunday and Monday, finally getting out about 4.30pm yesterday, just making it on to the last bus to Te Anau.

Doc's Te Anau office said this morning that all 120 trampers stranded on the Milford Track had been evacuated by helicopter by 4.30pm yesterday and no one was hurt.

Michael Purol, from the United States, was resting at Te Anau Lakefront Backpackers this morning after being flown out of Milford Track yesterday.

About 40 trampers had been stuck in his hut for two days, with water almost a metre deep covering the track in both directions, he said.

In rain that was "non-stop and heavy for most of the time", an Australian family with three young children became increasingly concerned and others restless, until rescue helicopters arrived with a deafening noise, he said.

Once in the air the views were spectacular and the only remaining obstacle was a 20m trudge through waist-deep water to get to their boats, he said.

An aerial survey had confirmed that one bridge on Milford Track had washed away and surfaces of tracks were badly damaged, said Doc's Mr Angus.

Rangers were sent in to assess damage by foot, and it was likely they would find further damage to bridges' foundations, he said.

Two state highways into Te Anau are flooded but most phone connections have been restored via temporary radio links.

Environment Southland said extensive tracts of low-lying farmland remained flooded this morning with many roads closed.

A swell 4.01m above normal on the Oreti River reached Wallacetown, about 10km north of Invercargill, at 5am, the regional council said.

At 9am, a flood peak on the Makarewa River was still on its way toward the town, and the council predicted State Highway 6 to Queenstown and State Highway 99 to Riverton would flood.

Wallacetown farmer Dave Marshall told Radio New Zealand this morning stopbanks had flooded and "two or three" dairy farmers had been caught out.

"[The council has] misinformed people. They were on the radio an hour ago saying there wasn't going to be any problems and there's a few major problems around Wallacetown."

Many rural roads remain closed and people are urged to keep checking for updates.

Click here for updates from Southland District Council.

The MetService has lifted heavy rain warnings for inland Southland north of Winton and Mataura.

It said heavy rain would continue in Westland and Fiordland until early Wednesday morning, with significant spillover into the headwaters of the Canterbury and Otago lakes and rivers.

Rainfall measuring 793mm had doused the Fiordland National Park and Southland district since Saturday night.

Environment Southland said flooding had caused extensive damage to fences and other infrastructure on farms in the Te Anau Basin.

Invercargill Airport, which is just downstream from a ponding area expected to fill by noon, would not be affected, it said.

The flooding prompted the Southland civil defence emergency management group to advise motorists to avoid non-essential travel.

- NZPA, NZHERALD STAFF