A series of floods in the Clutha gave rise the most severe and the most prolonged and damaging flooding experienced since 1919

Practically the whole of the catchment was affected with the position particularly bad in South Otago, which had hardly recovered from May floods

Worst affected South Otago areas were Inch Clutha and areas near Stirling and Kaitangata

Flooding in central Otago and in the Lakes districts was also severe

Roaring Meg and other small hydro power stations were put out of action

The damage caused to roads and bridges was the worst experienced for many years

River and drainage works suffered severe damage

Damage and economic loss total was estimated at £650,000 ($27,738,000 2009 dollars)

Damage estimated to river and drainage works was £125,000 ($5,334,000 2009 dollars)

Damage estimated to homes and crops was £90,000 ($3,841,000 2009 dollars)

Damage estimated to communications was £7000 ($300,000 2009 dollars)

Production loss in the current season was estimated to be £285,000 ($12,162,000 2009 dollars)

Production loss in the next season was estimated to be £143,000 ($6,102,000 2009 dollars)

The main railway line between Dunedin and Invercargill was closed for up to 2 weeks

Coal supplies were delayed

Lakes Wakatipu and Lake Hawea were high and rising on the night of the 20th

Lake Wakatipu rose to its peak flood level which was the highest since 1924

Power were supplies cut

Lake Wakatipu reached the streets of Queenstown on the night of the 20th

Water was half way across Rees Street and was still rising late on the night of the 20th and the road to the park gates was flooded early in the afternoon

Planks had to be used to gain entry to some businesses

Fraser River broke through at Earnscleugh on the 19th and inundated 12 homesteads. The rain kept them isolated on the 20th and food and mail was brought to them by horseback on the 21st

No stock losses were reported

Lake Wanaka maximum inflow was 165000 cusecs (4672 cumecs) which had been exceeded only twice since 1924

Lake Wanaka was over the main jetty and still rising on the 20th. It was as high as it had ever been

Clutha River was running bank-high at Wanaka and the rivers, streams and watercourses feeding the higher reaches of the Clutha River were swollen

The main road from Wanaka to Cromwell was impassable with washouts at Luggate and Lowburn

The Roaring Meg powerhouse water dropped 8-9 ft (2.4-2.7m) during the day, left 4 in (10cm) of silt in building and caused silt damage to machinery

Kawarau River rose and fell erratically. It peaked at 2ft (61cm) below the Ministry of Works pump at Ripponvale and started dropping on the 20th

Clutha River reached a peak of 13 ft 9 in (4.2m) above normal at 2pm on the 20th then fell steadily

At the Clyde recorder the Clutha River had a maximum discharge of 94,000 cusecs (2662 cumecs) with a catchment area of 4640 sq miles (12 018km^2) (the gauge height was at 15.42ft)

Some houses on the west of the river were isolated

Lots of debris was flowing down the river at this point

The Clutha River at the Alexandra bridge reached 36 ft (11m) but had fallen to 33 ft (10m) by 8pm on the 20th

Discharge from the Roxburgh Hydro Dam went from 30,000 to 91,000 cusecs (850 to 2577 cumecs) from 4pm on the 18th to 6pm on the 20th

The spillway level of the Roxburgh Dam was 17ft (5.2m) but dropped to 15ft (4.6m) late on the 20th

It was still raining heavily in the back country on the 21st

The slaughter yards were under 8-10ft (2.4-3m) of water

Several orchardists were isolated with water up to 30 in (76cm) deep in some orchards

All creeks were running high at Tapanui Flat

Manuherikia River had a peak discharge at Ophir of 12,300 cusecs (348 cumecs)

At Balclutha the Clutha River had a peak discharge of 125,000 cusecs (3540 cumecs) which was the third largest flood in nearly a hundred years of record

There were three further peaks with the highest being 90,000 cusecs (2549 cumecs) which occurred as a result of continued bad weather

A break occurred in the Koau stopbanks

Many people were evacuated

Houses, buildings, fences, roads and drains suffered severe damage

Crops were lost and farming operations were completely disrupted for long periods

Four people drowned in a boating accident while trying to cross the Clutha River

Clutha River overflowed onto the low-lying areas past Balclutha at approximately 12pm on the 20th

Stopbanks protecting the Otanomomo district were overtopped and 4800 acres (1942 ha) were inundated

In the lower Clutha area approximately 19000 acres (7689 ha) were under water and at least half of this flooding was serious

Balclutha's elderly and children from homesteads in badly flooded areas were evacuated

Stock losses may have been serious

The main south railway line to Invercargill was closed during the afternoon of the 20th due to scour danger

The town of Balclutha and railway lines were sandbagged

The highway through the town was covered by water almost 1ft (30cm) deep

The railway yards at the front of the station and parts of the railway line were covered with several feet of water

North to south rail traffic was cancelled on the 21st

Clutha River reached a maximum level of 72 ft 8 in (22.1m) at 9:30pm on the 20th

A washout of the railway line just south of the Balclutha station caused cancellation of services between Dunedin and Invercargill

The Invercargill to Lyttelton express was cancelled on the morning of the 21st

On the 21st the Clutha River had dropped 9 in (23cm) at Balclutha since the peak level which occurred at 12am on the 20th

Pomahaka River rose 7 ft (2.1m) above normal

Balclutha's sandbag defences withstood the flood

Damage was more pronounced in lower Inch Clutha where flood waters flowed back into the river

Dozens of people were marooned on Inch Clutha

An estimated 10000 acres (4047 ha) of land including 6000 acres (2428 ha) of Inch Clutha was under water at midnight on the 20th

At Owaka the railway lines were washed out

Barnego stopbanks were overtopped and badly breached. Siltation occurred in areas adjacent to the breaks

500 acres (202 ha) were flooded with considerable damage to pastures and fences

Stopbanks below Balclutha were overtopped to depths of over 2 ft (61cm). The first major failure occurred at Hermitage on the Matau branch immediately upstream of Stirling on the night of the 20th

A tremendous volume of water which was over 8 ft (2.44m) deep in places passed through Stirling township

It badly damaged houses and property and inundated low lying areas

6000 acres (2428 ha) were flooded

Roads were scoured, rail and communications were disrupted for 3 days

Residents of Stirling were evacuated

Kaitangata was practically isolated for nearly 2 weeks

Overflows from the Pomahaka River inundated Kelso, isolating the township

The main street had 17 in (43cm) of water which made it impassable in the morning of the 21st but there was little damage done

Rivers overtopped their banks, stopbanks failed in places and drainage systems were overtaxed or unable to function

On the 19th the Oreti, Mataura and Aparima Rivers were "spewing their muddy, foaming torrents across the plains of central Southland"

Wyndham and Queenstown were awash

Many thousands of acres of rural and urban lands were inundated

Road, rail and telephone links were completely disrupted

Some areas including townships were isolated

Flooding was the worst that Southland had experienced in many years

Scouring and erosion was very pronouced in some places particularly in Dipton and Winton Channels

Overtopping of Eyre Creek stopbanks caused damage to the railway

Roads and highways suffered limited damage, mainly loss of gravel

Several farmers lost between 20 and 30 sheep

Within the farming community the assessment of losses and damages was considerable

Oreti and Aparima Rivers fell slightly on 20th

From Wrey's Bus to Otautu (on Aparima River) and from Dipton to the Winton district (on Oreti), the flood waters left a trail of broken lines, strewn fences and hedges, pastures covered in silt, and crops and gardens scoured and smashed

Muddy water poured over stopbanks for many miles below Gore, isolating farmhouses and cutting new channels throughout countryside

Over a 14 mile stretch from Mandeville to Cattle Flat thousands of sheep stood belly deep in flood waters on the night of the 20th

Dozens of highways and minor roads throughout Southland were impassable on the 20th

On the night of the 20th an emergency rescue and relief station was set up in Wyndham

Flood waters invaded the township from Mimihau Stream

Water flooding to 12-18 in (30-46cm) in many parts of township at 11pm on the 20th

Roads on all sides were closed

Approximately 7 families were evacuated

Considered to be the worst flood in 44 years

The flood waters of Mataura River smashed through the protective banks near the iron traffic bridge and surged back half a mile to cover the township's main street knee deep

The main street was flooded from an early hour

At the township the was river still running half a mile wide on the night of the 20th and not falling much

At the Riverton Highway Bridge the Oreti River had a discharge of 29984 cusecs (849 cumecs), with a catchment area of 860 sq miles (2227km^2)

At the Mataura Island Bridge the Mataura River had a discharge of 41000 cusecs (1161 cumecs), with a catchment area of 1960 sq miles (5076km^2)

The annual maximum flood discharge occurred during the May floods with a discharge of 963 cumecs at Mataura