KEY POINTS:
Have you heard the one about the Irish pub that used to fall to pieces at the first sign of heavy rain?
It is no joke.
An Irish pub in Queenstown planned to come apart like a giant jigsaw puzzle next time floods threatened the resort, but other lakeside businesses were far less prepared, a Civil Defence official warned.
All timber fittings inside Pog Mahones, on Rees St, are individually numbered and can be dismantled within a day, meaning the pub's ornamental wooden bar, door frames and walls can be whisked away faster than you can pour a Guinness.
Pog Mahones general manager Sean McSparron said the bar's owners had devised a three-level emergency plan in response to the 1999 floods, which inundated the bar and many other lakeside businesses in Queenstown and cost the resort $56 million in damage and disruption.
The bar would be closed when floodwaters first threatened, and all staff would be called in to move furniture, stock and perishables upstairs as the water level rose, he said. Carpenters would begin dismantling the wooden fittings when the water reached the pub's entrance, with larger pieces taken away by truck.
"It will save us money because we will be able to reopen our bar quicker," he said.
The pub was closed for six weeks after the 1999 flood, during which water lapped at the top of the pub's bar as Lake Wakatipu rose to 312.78m above sea level and 1.18m above Steamer Wharf.
Repairs to water-damaged wooden fixtures alone took up to one month, he said.
Pog Mahones is not alone in taking such steps. Basement nightclub Subculture has plans for a steel barrier to shield its entrance in the event of a flood, and Skyline Enterprises, which owns lakefront properties, is understood to be trialling a mobile flood barrier.
Queenstown Lakes District Council emergency management officer Brenden Winder said other lakefront businesses needed to do more.
"We have got people in there that have never seen a flood in Queenstown and haven't thought about it. My gut feeling is not many are ready."
A repeat of the 1999 flood was "the most significant" hazard among many, including earthquakes and landslips threatening the resort, he said.
The next two months were considered the highest-risk period for flooding, as spring rain combined with snow melt to swell rivers feeding into Lake Wakatipu, he said.
