Alert opened: 30 May 2025
Area: Southern Fiordland, Southland, Stewart Island, Clutha and Dunedin
Period: 22 hours from 3:00pm Fri 30 May to 1:00pm Sat 31 May
Forecast: Severe gale southwesterlies gusting 130 km/h in exposed places, mainly about the coast during Friday afternoon and evening.
The strongest winds are expected overnight Friday and Saturday morning and spreading over inland areas. Squally thunderstorms are possible near the coast.
Low chance of upgrading to a Red Warning.
Impact: Damage to trees, powerlines, and unsecured structures possible. Driving may be difficult, especially for high-sided vehicles and motorcycles.
Action: Prepare your property by securing items that can be picked up by strong winds. Drive cautiously.
Keep up to date with weather warnings: https://www.metservice.com/warnings/home
Affected districts
Clutha District is mainly farmland with townships and small communities spread throughout. The mighty Clutha River reaches the Pacific Ocean here and the forests and rugged coastline provide plenty of recreational activities for residents and visitors.
The Clutha District can experience storms, flooding, earthquakes, infrastructure failure, wildfire, space weather and has low lying areas that are at risk to tsunami.
For more information about hazards in the Clutha district, visit Otago Regional Council's natural hazards portal
Being prepared to look after yourself during an emergency will help you, your family and community through times of disruption.
If life or property is at immediate risk, always call 111.
If you need assistance during an emergency, your first point of contact should be family, friends, neighbours, work colleagues, or those immediately around you wherever you are.
During an emergency, information will be available through several channels from Clutha District Council and Emergency Management Otago.
When an emergency affects the district, the Clutha District Council will provide information to the community and visitors through a variety of channels including their website and Facebook page.
The Council may use traditional media channels like radio and local newspapers to share information if available.
Sign up to Otago Gets Ready to receive alerts.
93.7 FM (South Otago from Clinton),
92.9 FM (Balclutha)
107.1 FM (from Lawrence).
Hokonui
94.8 FM (Southland)
91.3 FM & 88.3 FM (South Otago)
95.2 FM (West Otago)
RNZ National
101.4 FM / 810 AM.
Leave home only if you are in immediate danger or if you are officially advised to.
Stay inside (unless you are advised to evacuate) if there is a chemical or gas disaster or a storm. Listen to the radio, look at online media channels or TV for information. If the power is off, you can use a radio app on your phone, a solar or battery powered radio or your car radio.
If you need to evacuate, secure your home as though you were going on holiday and turn off power, water, and gas. Ensure each adult in your household knows how to turn these off.
Evacuate if there is:
No one knows a community better than those who live in it!
Community Resilience Groups are a team people in your area who are trained to open and run a Community Emergency hub. They work with Emergency Management Otago to develop community response plans by the community, for the community. They are a great way for the community to come together, discuss and outline how they plan to respond and keep each other safe during an emergency event.
To ensure that Community Resilience Groups have the capability to activate, training can be provided by Emergency Management Otago to cover:
Contact your local Emergency Management Advisor for further information on creating a community resilience group for your area or to join an existing one.
Emergency Management Otago works with communities across Clutha to develop capability and resilience within each community so that they can prepare for and respond to emergencies.
Together we have created a series of community resilience guides. These are living documents and are a short, ready-reference guide with information about local hazards and practical tips for preparedness.
Balclutha Stirling Community Resilience Guide
Clinton Community Resillience Guide
Kaitangata Community Resilience Guide
Kaka Point Community Resilience Guide
Owaka Community Resilience Guide.pdf
Toko Mouth Community Resilience Guide
Waihola Community Resilience Guide
