MEDIA RELEASE

Thursday 12 July 2012

Options available when preparing for flooding events

Last week’s flood warning for the Moutoa floodway was a timely reminder of the options property owners and river users have to prepare themselves for flooding events.

The River Information Service is a free service created by Horizons Regional Council, available to the public. The system monitors river levels at locations throughout the Horizons Region. If those levels reach certain heights an automated phone call will be made to registered users notifying them of the rising waters.

So when the waters were rising in the Manawatu River last week all who had subscribed for the service and who had requested notifications for that particular river, received updates over the phone. If an individual does not pick up the first time they are called, they will be called several times before giving up.

Graham McKay of Madge Coachlines is one such user who received calls about the rising Manawatu River last week.

“As we run the bus service for Opiki school children, the information service helps lets us know whether the Opiki Road could be affected by flooding,” he said,

“On this occasion it was school holidays but normally it gives us time to make a call on whether we take other routes to the schools on those days, as we still need to get the kids to school.

“The service is of real benefit to us and we have been using it for 5-6 years now,” Mr McKay said.

Anyone with an interest in what the river is doing can register for the River Information Service and to date over 600 individuals or groups have signed up. Those currently utilising the service include farmers, recreational groups and other river users. In order to register for the service the public can call Horizons on 0508 800 800 and they will be sent a form asking for which locations they wish to receive notifications for.

Those who prefer not to receive automated voice messages can instead call Horizons on waterline. 0508 4 FLOOD is a 24 hour freephone service in which callers can find out the water levels for any catchment in the Region. A very handy tool for those who are concerned about how river levels in their area could effect them.

Alternatively information on river heights and rainfall, current flow and forecast can also be found by visiting www.horizons.govt.nz.
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