A North Taieri resident who helped a man after an attempt to cross a swollen ford turned fatal says changes need to be made to avoid another unnecessary death.
Flooding on Silverstream Valley Road in North Taieri. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton
The car plunged into the Silver Stream while the driver was trying to cross a ford along Silverstream Valley Road last night.
Two occupants were able to get out of the vehicle but the body of a third person was found inside this morning.
It is the third death on a nearby ford since she moved there about 20 years ago.
Last night, a soaked and shaken man appeared at Barbara Warren's house after his group tried crossing the nearby ford and it went badly wrong.
"I would have thought it was pretty once-in-a-lifetime. The last time the trampers were going through and they came to our house to say one of their party had got swept down the river and he was lost, so all we could do was really call search and rescue, and get them around the fire and give them hot drinks and keep them warm.
"Which is what we did last night. It was like history repeating itself.
"We just saw a really distressed person who'd walked a long way to find a light on and someone with a phone."
It was harrowing to think what it must have been like, she said.
"Can you imagine you're in the car and there's a tiny little pocket of air and you have to hold your breath and it's dark and it's freezing and you're upside down.
"If I think about it too hard, it makes me want to gasp."
She was hopeful a solution could be found to avoid another preventable death in the area.
"We're wondering if they should put some sort of gate because people, they ignore the signs and sometimes just for fun, they just run the signs over, and the council has tried all sorts [of things]. They've put huge boulders on places that they don't want 4WDs to go, and they just drag them away."
The rain continued through the night and today, with mist sometimes thick in the air.
Not long after dawn, water was still charging over the ford - a foamy, brown torrent.
In the lead up to the ford is a yellow sign warning of a water hazard with another to show the road was closed closer to the stream.
Silver Stream in North Taieri. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton
Melanie Helm runs the Waiora Scout Camp - a short walk down Silverstream Valley Road from the ford.
"I can't believe people actually attempted to even try and cross that river ... Last night when I was out there, it was very swift. You couldn't even tell it was a ford."
Only a few nights earlier, she witnessed a close call and said a 4WD was nearly swept over the side.
Mosgiel-Taieri Community Board chair Joy Davis said it was awful news.
"It's a tragic event that's impacted many people. Of course the family, but it's also impacted on the people who were called out to search and then subsequently found the person, and it has wide ranging ramifications for people and emergency services."
With surface flooding on some roads and rivers running high, she hoped people would stay home, stay safe, and listen to the advice from local authorities.
The police are making inquiries on behalf of the coroner.
