A LITTLE WET REMINDER...
May 2, 2016
Just a perfect day today in the heavy rain here in Glenorchy to look back to 1994, when one of the biggest and destructive floods hit the Head of the Lake.
In the NZ ON SCREEN video HERE - which most of Glenorchians have seen for sure - you can see the scale of the 1994 floods (second part of the episode, after the brief Paradise footage) - that's why there is general feeling of reluctance to build ANY structure close to water in Glenorchy...
The 1994 flooding was a true natural disaster – Glenorchy Race Day was abandoned as the storm lashed the event, and visitors were trapped in Glenorchy when the Glenorchy/Queenstown Road was washed out with bridges washed away. Thunder and lightning rolled around the area for 24 hours with only minutes intervals between flashes. Deluges of water fell from the skies.
A number of Glenorchy residents homes were flooded through high lake levels or burst creek beds flowing out of course; others were threatened, and rural roads were damaged and communities isolated.
The eastern side of the Routeburn Track suffered extensive damages whereby all the footbridges and large sections of track were destroyed forcing evacuation of trampers from this and all other valleys. The NZ Army and Royal NZ Airforce were called in to assist with the Routeburn Track reconstruction with bridge and track building.
The Dart river at Chinamans Bluff also caused a track closure until blasting operations enabled a benched track to be created through the bluff above river level. Both the Caples Confluence bridge and Lake Sylvan bridges were also destroyed and replaced – also using Army personnel.
Some 400 trampers, holiday makers and visitors to the area were evacuated by boat.
Otherwise great memories for many - can you spot some of the locals in the video? :)
Stay warm and dry today!!
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