The final piece of equipment for a new flood monitoring system is now in place in Buller River.
Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee
It follows a deluge on the West Coast which saw hundreds of people evacuated from their homes in Westport.
The telemetry site in the Ohikanui River at Buckland Peak is the last piece of the advanced flood warning system to be installed.
The system was the number one short-term priority recommended by a working group called Westport 2100, which was established in 2019 to advise the West Coast Regional Council and Buller District Council on natural hazard risks facing the region.
The current system has little time to issue any form of warning, and no time to undertake an evacuation safely.
The new monitoring system will provide up to eight hours advanced warning for the evacuation of the coastal town.
The new computer model is ready to start collecting and analysing the data collected by the telemetry sites. However, it will take at least five years of data gathered across the system to be able to provide accurate formal evacuation warnings.
The council's acting, planning and science manager Rachel Vaughan said reliable flood forecasts for decision making required accurate weather, river and sea level forecasts.
A site visit to check the reliability of the radio connection will take place, weather permitting, next week.
The data will be manually collected and compared with the information gathered from the surrounding NIWA and Bathurst Resources sites.
Vaughan said once the communication links had been verified as working correctly, the data would be used to assist with decision-making
and better planning with the community.
The council's rainfall and river level monitoring data can be viewed [www.wcrc.govt.nz/services/flood-monitoring here].