Invercargill City Council has its sights focused on picking up the pieces following October’s severe weather event, which wreaked havoc and left a trail of damage throughout Southland.

At their full Council meeting, elected members reviewed a preliminary update on the financial impacts of the 23 October storm, which resulted in a local state of emergency being declared throughout the region.

The report noted that Council was working with insurance assessors to confirm how much coverage it had for the storm costs.

Invercargill City Council Chief Executive Michael Day said since the state of emergency had been lifted on 7 November, the organisation was now focused on the recovery process for Invercargill and Bluff.

Storm costs were currently estimated at about $2.4 million, with that figure expected to change as further site assessments were completed, and income recovered from the sale of timber was finalised.

“The Southland region is now in recovery mode following October’s weather event.

We’re extremely grateful nobody in our community was injured during the winds, and our recovery efforts are able to focus on ensuring Council’s facilities, services, and properties can be repaired,” Day said.

“The amount of damage inflicted on some of our facilities and infrastructure was significant and, unfortunately, completely outside of our control. “We know how important these spaces are for our community, and it’s critical that we undertake substantial repair efforts to get Invercargill and Bluff back to normal. The costs associated with undertaking this work are unavoidable, as we need to ensure our community’s safety is prioritised.”

Council would continue to work with its insurers, but much of the cost would not be recoverable from insurance. The organisation would likely look to debt-fund the shortfall through a five-year loan, Day said.

While the majority had now been safely reopened to the public, the city’s parks and reserves had borne the brunt of the devastation, Day said.

Significant volumes of fallen trees and other damage had contributed to an estimated $930,538 price tag across Council’s 150-odd parks and reserves – including at Queens Park, which would be reopened in phases in a bid to balance public safety with the sheer volume of remedial work required there, Day said.

That figure did not include the cost of tree replanting, Day said.

A further $298,308 was needed to repair damage to street lighting and traffic signals throughout the city’s roading network, while damage to rooves or windows at facilities such as Splash Palace and the Bluff Service Centre totalled $294,687, according to the report.

“These facilities are a real lifeline for many people in our community, so we are working as hard and as fast as we can to carry out the repairs they need,” Day said.

Council employees, meanwhile, had contributed 525 hours of work at Emergency Management Southland between October 23 – the day the winds struck – and November 7, when the state of emergency in Southland was officially lifted, the report stated.