Road from Pukaki to Mount Cook was completely impassable on the night of the 2nd.

Water affected the State Highway between Omarama and Fairlie.

The road from Hermitage to Lake Pukaki was flooded.

The raod from Lake Pukaki to Omarama was impassable on the afternoon of the 3rd.

Hakataramea River was carrying a great volume of water down the Hakataramea Gorge. Hakataramea bridge at Kurow was trembling with the pressure of the water.

Three homesteads were evacuated due to flooding in the vicinity of Hakataramea.

In several places below Hakataramea, the river burst its banks, causing widespread flooding of low-lying areas.

A tremendous volume of water was roaring over the sill of the Waitaki hydro-electric dam on the 3rd. The flow was 6 ft (1.83 m) high and was the discharge was estimated at 75,000 cusecs (2124 cumecs).

The previous record height of water coming over dam was 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) during the 1946 flood.

The Waitaki River was not "desperately flooded" as the rise had been gradual since the 29th of October.

There were no reported stock losses.

Damage to the roads was believed to be as great as it was two years ago.

A resident who had lived in the district for the past five years said he had never seen so much water in the Waitaki.

One of the worst floods for 30 years swept the Clutha Valley from the Lakes to mouth of the river. It was caused by melting snow and heavy rain in the western parts of the province.

There was a major flood in Clutha River. It was the largest flood since 1878 in the upper reaches.

There was flooding at Inchclutha and Paretai.

There was extensive damage to farms.

Roads and highways were flooded and extensively damaged.

There were no casualities.

Many cattle and sheep drowned.

Damage to the river protection works in the Balclutha area was £33,000 ($2,150,900 2009 dollars).

Roads were flooded and there was numerous slips on highways in all parts of the province on the afternoon of the 2nd.

The stretch of road between Lowburn and Queensbury (which was almost ready for sealing) was under water, and underwent a lot of damage.

In Wanaka and Hawea, the telephone service was disrupted from 2pm-10pm on the 2nd, owing to a pole being washed out near Lowburn.

The road known as St. Bathans loop, between Becks and St. Bathans was impassable owing to a washout.

The road between Lumsden and Kingston was flooded on the night of the 2nd.

There was a temporary blockage of traffic between Dunedin and Queenstown on the 3rd. Near Ettrick, Clutha River banked up a creek and flooded the State Highway with 2 ft (0.61 m) of water.

More water was reported in the flooded areas of the Balclutha, Stirling, Kaitangata and Balclutha, Finegand, Kaka Point roads on the 3rd.

Lindis Pass road had many bad washouts.

Flood waters turned rivers of Central Otago into raging torrents and were carrying large quantities of debris.

Bridges were swept away or dangerously weakened.

On the 2nd, at both at Cromwell and Alexandram, the flood waters rose to levels that hadn't been reached for 30 years or more.

The Albert Town bridge was endangered.

A resident living above Albert Town bridge was marooned. Another resident in Albert Town was in danger and believed only the change in the wind (to the south) saved his property.

The peak level of Clutha River at Alexandra was 31 ft 8 in (9.65 m) at 9am on the morning of the 3rd. The previous record level was 26 ft 11 in (8.20 m) during the 1946 flood.

When it reached its peak, water to a depth of several inches invaded one house on the flat at Alexandra.

No stock losses were reported in the district.

From a reconstructed discharge curve, Clutha River had a discharge of 90,000 cusecs (2549 cumecs) at Alexandra, with a catchment area of 5315 sq miles ( km^2) and a gauge height of 31 ft 8 in. (Hydrology Annual No.3 1955, Soil Conservation and River Control Council, Wellington, New Zealand)

At Alexandra, the river rose 7 in (17.78 cm) per hour and had a peak discharge of 77,725 cusecs (2201 cumecs). (Cowie, C.A; Attwood, A.K.(1957) FLOODS in NEW ZEALAND 1920 -53, The Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Council, Wellington, New Zealand,239p.)

In Alexandra, some roads were impassable or in dangerous condition on the night of the 2nd.

Alexandra experienced high winds on the 1st with a highest gust of 66 knots (122 km/hr) at a direction of 350 degrees true.

Late on the night of the 2nd, the river gauge at Balclutha stood at 66 ft (20.12 m) but main force of flood still hadn't reached the town.

The cost of the flood in the lower Clutha was estimated at £27,500 ($1,792,400 2009 dollars) by engineer on 21 December 1948.

From a reconstructed discharge curve, Clutha River had a discharge of 95,000 cusecs ( cumecs) at Balclutha, gauged at old road bridge. The catchment area was 8100 sq miles (20,979 km^2).

At Balclutha, the Clutha River rose to a depth of 72.25 ft (22.02 m) with a peak discharge estimated at 94,000 cusecs (2662 cumecs). It was the highest flood since 1919.

The Balclutha to Clydevale River road was impassable all day on the 3rd, due to flooding centered at Barnego.

The stop banks in the Barnego district overtopped and were breached in two places. The whole flats became inundated.

The highway between Cromwell and Wanaka was flooded at Ballantyne's bridge over the Cardrona River and was impassable.

Flooding and washouts in Cardrona Valley made use of the Crown Range route impossible.

Crown Range Road still was impassable with washouts in the Cardrona Valley on the 3rd.

Kawarau River was in high flood.

At Cromwell, on the night of the 2nd, both the Kawarau and Clutha Rivers were running 20 ft (6.10 m) above normal, with discoloured water carrying masses of debris, large trees and the occasional drowned animals.

One farmer lost 50 sheep from an island that couldn't be reached on the morning of the 2nd.

On the morning of the 3rd, the Clutha River showed a further rise, and appeared to reach a peak later in the day.

From the night of the 2nd, the Kawarau River subsided slowly.

On the 3rd, both rivers were still discoloured and carrying a large amount of debris.

Residents of two houses on the west side of the Clutha River, near Lowburn, were forced to evacuate on the night of the 2nd as flood waters entered their houses.

Business was slack during day as people went to join volunteer forces in the threatened area of the river.

By late evening on the 3rd, the Clutha River had reached its maximum of a little over 72 ft (21.95 m) and stayed steady at that mark. It was 18 in (0.46 m) above the level of the 1946 flood.

Inch Clutha stopbanks were generally overtopped, despite the extensive sandbagging.

At 11pm on the 3rd, a break reported in the Matau district. Water was coming through over a distance of 15 chains (300 m).

There was an evacuation of a majority of settlers from Inch Clutha and other threatened areas by nightfall on the 3rd.

Two boats were used at one stage to rescue people who were marooned.

From the hillside on the northern side of the main highway bridge at Balclutha, the whole valley up the river was a solid sheet of discoloured water.

Down the main flow huge branches were swept along at a staggering rate, along with an occasional dead sheep. The ends of electric cables, whole trees and a dog kennel were among the debris which was carried down.

Matau bridge was throught to have slightly buckled under the pressure from a log jam.

Waitepeka Creek swirled in a turbid torrent in the direction opposite to its customary flow. This was caused by the pressure of water in Clutha River backing up the mouth of the creek.

Seepage caused a certain amount of surface water to appear near the Balclutha approach to the main highway bridge.

Water was encroaching onto the showgrounds on the evening of the 3rd.

The aerodrome was well under water.

Impassable roads on the evening of the 3rd, included Balclutha to Clydevale, at Barnego; Balclutha to Kaka Point, at Finegand; Balclutha to Kaitangata, at Hasborough Road and Stirling.

Makarora, at the head of Lake Wanaka, rose 12 ft (3.66 m) above normal and flooded the main streets of Wanaka.

Lake Wakatipu rose 6 ft (1.83 m) above normal and had been rising since Labour weekend (23-25th October).

The water was almost to the level of the town wharf.

There was widespread damage reported to all roads in the county and in the hill area of town, roads were well scoured.

At Lake Wakatipu the peak discharge was 22,750 cusecs (644 cumecs).

The inflow to Lake Wakatipu was 67,000 cusecs (1897 cumecs).

Floods in the district were described as the worst since 1919.

The Wanaka lake level rose 12 ft (3.66 m) in 20 hours.

The lake overflowed on to main road at the wharf, which was completely under water on the night of the 2nd.

The Cardrona bridge, on the main highway from Wanaka, was destroyed when its piles were washed away.

A washout at Lochar Creek, on the main road to Wanaka, resulted in a fissure 30 ft (9.14 m) long and 10 ft (3.05 m) deep in the bitumen road.

In West Wanaka, the Matukituki River was reported to be a roaring torrent.

A mass of driftwood over one mile long was floating down the lake.

Roads and bridges in the district suffered considerable damage as swollen streams and rivers battered at piles and washed away approaches.

One of the worst examples of scouring occurred at Wash Creek, near Gravelly Gully, on the main highway between Cromwell and Wanaka. The road was scoured out to depth of 8 ft (2.44 m) and a width of 20 ft (6.10 m), with a large volume of water sweeping through the channel created.

Lake Wanaka reached a maximum water level at 6am on the 3rd.

At Waterfall Creek on the main road to Glendhu the ford was badly scoured out and impassable.

Ballantyne's bridge (the main bridge into Wanaka) sunk in the middle. Cardrona River was right across the road, and scoured out the approaches to the bridge on both sides, leaving the bridge impassable for some time.

Maximum level of Lake Wanaka was 12 ft (3.66 m) at the wharf and 8 in (0.20 m) higher than it reached during the flood of 1946.

The inflow to Lake Wanaka was estimated 120,000 cusecs (3398 cumecs).

At the outfall of Lake Wanaka the peak discharge was 25,350 cusecs (718 cusecs).

The western district of Southland was completely isolated by road on the 3rd for five to six hours.

Road traffic was held up at the iron bridge on the highway between Invercargill and Riverton. Traffic was also held up at Lochiel, Winton, Centrebush, Benmore and Dipton on the highway between Invercargill and Queenstown. Roads were expected to be clear on the night of the 3rd.

There were no stock losses reported.

The annual maximum flood discharge of the Mataura River was 396 cumecs on the 2nd.

Oreti River was in high flood.