Restoration efforts are ongoing across the Clutha District, four days after a powerful storm caused widespread outages and damage to key infrastructure.

Civil Defence teams continue to lead the emergency response, working alongside Emergency Management Otago, emergency services and national partner agencies to restore power,

telecommunications, water and road access.

Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell visited Clutha on Monday, meeting with staff at the Emergency Operations Centre to thank response crews in person.

“I understand teams have been working long hours to make sure the impacted communities are okay, after losing communication and power,” he said.

“It’s clear there’s been an immense effort here in Clutha, and across Southland and Otago, to support those affected.”

Emergency Management Otago Group Controller Matt Alley said the top priority remains restoring critical services and ensuring residents are supported through the recovery.

“There’s been a mammoth effort over the past few days with a range of agencies doing their best to support people and restore services as fast as possible and this is progressing well considering the

scale of the damage,” he said.

“There are many others doing their bit to help too. We’re hearing examples of how people in the community are helping each other, from farmers sharing generators to neighbours checking on each

other. This is invaluable at times like this.”

With cold weather settling in, residents without heating are encouraged to stay with friends or whānau until power is restored. Locals are also being urged to check on neighbours and pass on updates

to those who may be without communications.

For updates, locals and visitors are asked to stay informed via the Clutha Council website cluthadc.govt.nz/weather-event or listen to your local radio station.