From: Lee Vandervis <lee@vandervision.co.nz>
Date: Friday, 4 October 2024 at 9:43 PM
To: Sandy Graham <Sandy.Graham@dcc.govt.nz>, Council 2022-2025 (Elected Members) <council.2022-2025@dcc.govt.nz>
Cc: Executive Leadership Team (ELT) <elt@dcc.govt.nz>, Communications <comms@dcc.govt.nz>
Subject: Complete drainage victory over the most persistent days of heavy rain Dear Sandy and your Team,

Having traversed most of lower-lying South Dunedin without driving through any puddles before nightfall last night and again this evening I believe it is not too early to congratulate you all on a complete drainage victory over the most persistent days of heavy rain in my memory.

There has been no repeat of the $175 million in property damage and the misery of a thousand+ flooded homes as in the similar 2015 rain event, this time with the surface flooding in South Dunedin’s usual low areas mostly contained and diverted.
Notwithstanding still more rain for the next few hours, I believe the potential crisis has been averted, with traditional detention areas like Bathgate Park and the Oval already showing less surface water and only the very low section of Botha street and Surrey st still having water right across part of the road. The video camera man at the Hillside end of Surrey street seemed rather dejected having little to report.
This below was the only bit of Tainui’s Botha street with ponding at 6pm this evening.

No doubt staff will have an enormous clean-up operation with slips etc in the coming days, but they have already succeeded in reopening slip/tree-blocked parts of Peninsula roads and all the houses I have seen have maintained dry floors.
There has been only a fraction of the sandbagging required compared to 2015 when my Landcruiser had water coming in under the door sills as I delivered sandbags needed in many South Dunedin Streets and saw families having to wade away from their flooded homes to higher ground.

All drains and mud-tanks appeared to cope well with enormous and continuing quantities of water efficiently pumped away, and even the often leaf-blocked Queens Drive mud-tank just south of Olveston was draining efficiently.

I look forward to the eventual debriefing on what went so well and what might still be done better in the future, but in the meantime look forward to an anxiety-free night of sound sleep.

Best regards and thanks for so many jobs well done!!
Lee