More than 200mm of rain
Access to Kaiko¯ura may have been restored after exCyclone Gita tore through the country on Tuesday night, but residents say it will take time to fix the damage.
‘‘It is what it is,’’ Clarence resident Margaret Nee said after surveying the damage on Wednesday morning. ‘‘They’ve already got a lot of diggers and trucks in there.’’
Access to Kaiko¯ura has been restored after the Inland Rd – State Highway 70 – was re-opened. State Highway 1 north of Kaiko¯ura, from Mangamaunu to Clarence, and south between Peketa and Goose Bay, would remain closed until at least Monday night. An update was expected by 5pm on Monday.
Kaiko¯ura Mayor Winston Gray said surface flooding affected two residential properties on Mill Rd and, further down the coast, a residential property in the Rosy Morn area was washed away.
‘‘There’s a residential property between the tunnels that is gone. It appears to have been washed out to sea. The water came in and took the house away.’’
The infrastructure of the town did not sustain much damage,
Gray said.
‘‘In the township, we’ve dodged a bullet. At 11pm last night we made a call to not declare a State of Emergency. You’re always debating, ‘Should I or should I not?’. The decision was the right one, as the weather turned away from us. It was a real blessing.’’
Nee went ‘‘tiki touring’’ on foot on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning because she ‘‘couldn’t get anywhere’’. She found Papatea Stream, which crossed SH1, covered in limestone and balls of clay that had rolled down from the hills, and a very damaged railway line.
‘‘We just came back from the railway line this morning, and it was so muddy that I’m now giving my foxy dog a shower. There was that horrible, horrible, sticky ground that’s like gruel, with pumicey limestone bits rolling through it, [sic]’’ she said.
Nee said she was had expected the storm to be worse.
‘‘The wind came in quite hard after dark and it just blew itself out at about 1am or 2am. Since then it’s been pretty still. Blue skies, even.’’
Nee was supposed to start work at her new retail job in retail in Clarence on Tuesday, but had to cancel because the weather left her unable to travel.
MetService meteorologist Lisa Murray said the storm had absolutely ‘‘packed a punch’’ across Canterbury.
While Christchurch International Airport recorded 66 millimetres of rain, she said an area near Kaiko¯ura recorded more than 200mm.
‘‘There’s been plenty of rainfall around. There’s always a range in these events. Some places get hit harder than others,’’ she said.
Kaiko¯ura’s total which fell in just 18 hours, represents 28 per cent of the town’s annual rainfall.
A station in the ranges just south of Kaiko¯ura recorded 296mm of rainfall, and the Kaiko¯ura Peninsula recorded 92.8mm.
Murray said the MetService was thankful that many Kiwis prepared for the storm.
‘‘For MetService it’s all about people being prepared for the worst so they can protect themselves and their property.’’
Takahanga Marae opened its doors last night, extending a
‘‘There’s been plenty of rainfall around. There’s always a range in these events. Some places get hit harder than others.’’ MetService meteorologist Lisa Murray
welcome to locals and tourists who were worried about rising floodwaters in Kaiko¯ura, which had been isolated from road closures.
Marae office administrator Ned Manawatu said a local family of 11 arrived just after 7pm.
‘‘It was so good they did turn up. We were lucky we had the Ma¯ori wardens who came her to manaaki [take care of] the whanau which was great.
‘‘The wardens had sent out a notice letting people know the marae was open should they feel unsafe at home or need somewhere to stay for the night,’’ Manawatu said.
The marae also opened after the earthquake in 2016. Manawatu said they opened the marae this time because of the weather.
‘‘We had been asked earlier in the day if we consider opening as a welfare centre and we agreed immediately. Of course it wasn’t to the same extent as the earthquake.’’
Freedom campers had been advised earlier in the day to move to higher ground. Two German tourists who had planned to stay overnight in their car were advised to stay in a hostel.
Karina Tress and Alessa Heidenreich said they were getting worried as the weather set in. Tress said they were searching for somewhere to stay overnight however the hostels were full.
Heidenreich said they were not used to these conditions so we didn’t know what would happen in the night. ‘‘A person said it would be very very bad so we were worried and the wind was heavy.’’ Kaiko¯ura had woken up this morning to calm seas and sunshine Ma¯ori Warden Aroha Boyd said the marae felt like a safe place to be on Tuesday night.
‘‘This was like a welfare centre,’’ she said. ‘‘The wardens had been trained in civil defence and it was good for us to put the training in practice.’’