Rain and gusts batter two cities
South Christchurch residents living on the banks of the swollen O¯ pāwaho/Heathcote river say yesterday’s flooding is the worst they have seen in recent years.
About 42 millimetres of rain had fallen across Christchurch by 1.30pm yesterday, MetService said, as severe weather caused chaos throughout parts of the country.
On Eastern Tce, at the tip of the Beckenham loop, water from the river had risen to about knee height for anyone standing on the footpath. The road was closed and residents were mostly confined to their homes.
Most homes in this area were elevated, so floodwater was only in driveways and gardens.
Samuel Sales had water up his driveway and parts of his garden, but it remained some way from his home.
He said he was OK and had the day off work. He was just staying at home and playing with his children.
‘‘We’re inside, we’re dry, [we have] power, water, heat, everything is happy as,’’ he said.
Sales said he had lived in the area for four years and it was the worst flooding he had seen, but only by a small margin.
‘‘We’d deal with this twice a year to stay where we are, no drama,’’ he said.
The Christchurch City Council has spent tens of millions of dollars in the past five years protecting those who live along the river from floodwaters.
It has dredged the river to increase its capacity, stabilised the banks upstream and is building four stormwater storage basins capable of holding 2 million cubic metres.
Yesterday’s wet weather had sparked a handful of road closures across Christchurch. A slip also closed Dyers Pass Rd.
In Diamond Harbour, two power poles fell across a road leaving 318 homes in Charteris Bay, Church Bay, Diamond Harbour and Hornby with no power, according to Orion.
The Christchurch City Council warned residents of surface flooding and possible debris on the roads.
Severe damage to a flood protection stop bank on the Opihi River near Pleasant Point means a state of emergency for the area could be in place for several days.
The Timaru District Council declared the state of emergency at 10.20pm on Wednesday after two of 10 people from the Mill Rd Huts area, who had voluntarily evacuated several hours earlier, went back to a property.
Sergeant Malcolm Lindsay, of Temuka police, said the resident and their friend left the area by their own accord when the emergency was declared and police went back to the huts to notify them.
Council said a small section of the stop bank was at risk of failing following flood flows from recent heavy rain.
A council spokesperson said Environment Canterbury staff were still assessing the stop bank yesterday afternoon, and it was ‘‘stable but severely damaged’’.
The spokesperson added the damaged area would need to be reinforced before people could return and that meant the state of emergency could be in place for several more days.
Nearly 3000 residents in Wellington’s Eastbourne were cut off as extreme weather and swells closed roads and cancelled ferries.
The Hutt City Council advised
Eastern Bays residents to stay at home where possible.
Marine Drive on the east coast remained closed as strong winds and heavy swells hampered the cleanup operation.
MetService meteorologist John Law said a 133kph gust was recorded at the top of Mt Kaukau in Wellington about 2pm. There was a 109kph gust in Masterton in Wairarapa, 117kph at Wellington Airport, and 111kph in Kelburn.
Wellington’s wind warning was to last until 10pm yesterday. Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne’s warning remained until today.
A wave of up to 10m was recorded early yesterday at the Wellington harbour entrance, and regular 6m waves came through, MetService meteorologist Luis Fernandes said. A heavy swell warning is in place until this afternoon.
Flights in and out of the capital have been cancelled until further notice.