Latest from RNZ News
RNZ News
32 minutes ago
- Climate
- RNZ News
Otago Regional Council closely monitoring rising rivers as heavy rain is yet to peak
It comes amid flooding in other parts of the South Island, including Motueka. Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee Otago Regional Council is closely monitoring rising rivers that are yet to peak in North Otago, Dunedin and Clutha. An orange heavy rain warning was in place for Dunedin and Clutha until 9pm on Saturday night. ORC flood duty officer Ann Conroy said the council was keeping an eye on parts of the Tokomairaro floodplain such as Milton, the Lower Taieri floodplain including Henley, the Lower Clutha floodplain and Middlemarch. "Flood infrastructure is doing its job and performing as expected. There were no significant issues overnight and surface flooding and ponding are likely in lower lying areas. "We are ready to respond to any issues that arise will continue to closely monitor river levels," she said. Dunedin's Water of Leith and Lindsay Creek were not expected to top their banks. The council said coastal Dunedin bore the brunt of rainfall overnight - approximately 25-50mm, with other parts of Otago getting 20-50mm. Rainfall had eased in North Otago but Dunedin could see a further 20-30mm and 30-40mm for Clutha, it said. The Silver Stream near Mosgiel was expected to peak at about 90-100 cumecs on Saturday afternoon and the Taieri River at Outram at about 400-600 cumecs in the evening. Flooding of unprotected areas downstream of Outram was likely. The Clutha River at Balclutha was expected to peak at around 1900 cumecs on Sunday morning. Flooding was likely in low-lying areas next to the river upstream of Balclutha and unprotected areas downstream of the township on the Clutha delta. A heavy snow watch was also in place for Central Otago, Southland north of Lumsden, inland Dunedin and Clutha until 7pm on Saturday night. It's snowy down in Central Otago. Photo: Supplied/ Cath Gilmo A number of roads in the Clutha district were closed because of flooding. The council said crews were placing signs in the worst-affected areas but conditions could change quickly and deteriorate before they reached them. There was surface flooding in a number of areas around Clutha, particularly Milton. Dunedin City Council spokesman Scott MacLean said there were some road closures in Dunedin, but the network coped well with heavy rain overnight. "Contractors responded to isolated incidents of ponding overnight. Our teams are inspecting the network for damage and flooding, and there are some temporary road closures in place." Meanwhile, Metservice said about 40mm of rain had fallen in Dunedin city and surrounding areas in the past 12 hours. Meteorologist Devlin Lynden said while it's not quite the totals seen in the Tasman District, there'll be some swollen gutters and potentially surface flooding in flat areas such as Mosgiel and South Dunedin. He said the Central Otago hills have also received a dusting of snow, while the skifields around Wanaka and Queenstown got a dumping of about 20-30cm. The wet weather was expected to clear on Sunday ahead of another cold front moving in overnight, Lynden said. Laura Hedley, chief mountains officer for Cardrona and Treble Cone, said it's been an "incredible morning in the snow" for Treble Cone's opening day. Other skifields in the area opened earlier this month. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
Death of prisoner at Mt Eden Corrections Facility treated as homicide
Mt Eden Corrections Facility. Photo: RNZ Multiple investigations have been launched after a man died at Mt Eden Corrections Facility in Auckland. Police said they were made aware of the death at about 4pm on Friday after an 'incident' at the prison. Detective Inspector Greg Brand told RNZ the death of the man was being treated as a homicide. Do you know more? Email "Police were made aware at about 4pm yesterday of a man who had died at the prison following an incident," he said. "Officers continue to follow positive lines of inquiry." Mt Eden Corrections Facility is the main prison for newly remanded prisoners in the Auckland region. The Department of Corrections said the man's next of kin has been notified and all evidence will be given to the police. "Corrections will also carry out a full investigation," Mt Eden Corrections Facility general manager Dion Paki said. "As the prisoner was in a double-bunked cell, the second prisoner who was residing in the cell has been moved to a single-cell." Paki said Corrections was expressing "sincere condolences" to everyone affected. "We acknowledge this will be distressing for staff and other prisoners in the unit and we are providing people with support," he said. Paki said this included access to chaplains and any cultural support. The Inspectorate Office for the department, which operates independently, would also be investigating the death. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
The Mixtape: Matthew Crawley
This audio is not downloadable due to copyright restrictions. The inimitable Matt Crawley joins Tony Stamp for The RNZ Mixtape. Matthew Crawley at alternative 95bFM, where he does the Monday Drive show. Photo: Aneeka Moheed A promoter, DJ and musician, Crawley cut his teeth on the Aotearoa music scene when he started volunteering at Auckland alternative radio station 95bFM as a teenager. Crawley began Strange News Touring in 2005 with Rueben Bonner. The company has hosted names such as Lucy Dacus, Wednesday, MJ Lenderman, Jessica Pratt and Ichiko Aoba, among many others. He was the manager of Auckland's Flying Out Records until 2022, when he left to immerse himself in the promotion side of things. Before that, he was the entertainment manager of legendary bar Golden Dawn. Crawley is also the brains behind comedy punk quartet Thee Golden Geese. The Smashing Pumpkins – Whir PJ Harvey – C'mon Billy
RNZ News
an hour ago
- Sport
- RNZ News
NRL live updates: Broncos v Warriors
Broncos player Reece Walsh gets past Te Maire Martin of the Warriors during the NRL preliminary final between the Brisbane Broncos and the New Zealand Warriors at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. Photo: DAVE HUNT / AAP / PHOTOSPORT The Warriors are looking to bounce back from a disappointing loss to an under strength Panthers side last weekend, and face a Broncos outfit coming off a big comeback win over the Sharks. Kick-off is at 5pm NZT. Follow all the action from RNZ's live blog: Broncos: 1. Reece Walsh, 2. Josiah Karapani, 3. Kotoni Staggs, 4. Gehamat Shibasaki, 5. Jesse Arthars, 6. Ezra Mam, 7. Adam Reynolds, 8. Corey Jensen, 9. Cory Paix, 10. Payne Haas, 11. Brendan Piakura, 12. Jordan Riki, 13. Patrick Carrigan Interchange: 14. Billy Walters, 15. Kobe Hetherington, 16. Xavier Willison, 17. Jack Gosiewski Reserves: 18. Tyson Smoothy, 19. Selwyn Cobbo, 20. Deine Mariner, 21. Jaiyden Hunt, 22. Ben Talty, 23. Kyle Pickering. Warriors: 1. Charnze Nicoll‑Klokstad, 2. Edward Kosi, 3. Adam Pompey, 4. Rocco Berry, 5. Roger Tuivasa‑Sheck, 6. Chanel Harris‑Tavita, 7. Luke Metcalf, 8. James Fisher‑Harris, 9. Wayde Egan, 10. Marata Niukore, 11. Kurt Capewell, 12. Jacob Laban, 13. Erin Clark Interchange: 14. Te Maire Martin, 15. Jackson Ford, 16. Demitric Vaimauga, 17. Leka Halasima Reserves: 18. Tanner Stowers‑Smith, 19. Taine Boyd, 20. Samuel Healey, 21. Bunty Afoa, 22. Taine Tuaupiki
RNZ News
2 hours ago
- General
- RNZ News
Clutha council confident Mt Cooee Landfill won't run out of room
Mt Cooee Landfill. Photo: Facebook/Wasteco The Clutha District Council is confident a solution will be in place at a local landfill before it runs out of room. In February, the council reported the Mt Cooee Landfill area was critically close to capacity - it could need to stop accepting waste by August - and could cost an estimated $157,000 a month to ship waste elsewhere. Work has been underway to reduce, mitigate or eliminate that risk. That work included a 3D survey to figure out how much capacity was left and how long it would take to fill up and plans to build a general waste transfer pad so waste could be moved out of the district to another landfill until a decision was made about building a new landfill at Mt Cooee. The pad was expected to be finished by early September. "At this stage, council staff are working to define the detail designs required for the transfer station and then go out to tender for this urgent work," the council said. The council acknowledged it had not been smooth sailing as councillors expressed serious concern at the early advice. "Staff worked in the background on the risk and were successful in the various risk elimination measures," the council said. "Council is very confident that a solution will be in place before it is needed." The resource consent for the continued operation, expansion and progressive rehabilitation of the Mt Cooee Landfill was signed off by the Otago Regional Council in May. Work to enable an extension of the current landfill cell was nearly done, but existing cell had about 15 months of capacity left, the council said. The extension was expected to cost about $200,000. The total budget available for Mt Cooee upgrades was $7.1 million, which also included the transfer station and a possible resource centre. Building a new landfill cell was also a possible option. "Staff are intending to bring back to council a decision over the economics of operating Mt Cooee versus operating a transfer station as the long-term solution." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
