Rangitikei escapes worst of floods
Rangitikei appears to have escaped serious damage after heavy rainfall in the region, but people were sandbagging and evacuating in case things took a turn for the worse.
Marton resident Maria Campbell stayed with family on Tuesday night because her low-lying flat on Wellington Rd had been flooded in past years.
‘‘My family came and checked we were OK and said ‘get your bloomers and come up home’. So I just grabbed a small bag and my purse.
‘‘I didn’t sleep much. There were two of us from the flats. We had couches, but we had a beautiful fire going.’’
She said neighbours were looking out for each other.
In the same block of flats, June Dunkerton had moved her family photos up high, and shifted as much of her belongings out of harm’s way as she could. A friend had shifted her bed to another property.
Some Marton businesses were disrupted by traffic disruptions affecting staff commutes.
Ballantynes retailer Rachelle Puklowski said couriers had not come in on Wednesday morning because of the storm.
For Manawatu mayor Helen Worboys, the rain stirred memories of the disastrous 2004 floods that afflicted Feilding.
Worboys said there would be flood damage for farmers in the district, though flooding to Feilding’s CBD was likely to be minimal.
She said her first thought was ’’here we go again, 2004’’.
‘‘There will be a fallout from it. It’s definitely not over and there’s still a lot we haven’t seen – it’s the time of the year when farmers are resowing their paddocks.
‘‘We’re still waiting to see what slips and things come from it.
‘‘Overall, it looks as though the whole region’s going to be a bit luckier than first thought. Hopefully, we’re not going to have to help our businesses drain water from their buildings again.
‘‘The telling factor will be in a couple of days.’’
The Manawatu District Council has set up an emergency centre in the council building in Feilding.
Rangitikei mayor Andy Watson said river levels were not expected to reach the extremes that were signalled on Tuesday, when a state of emergency was declared.
But some houses in Marton were evacuated on Tuesday night as a precaution.
‘‘It has been a nervous wait,’’ Watson said. ‘‘I managed to get a couple of hours sleep [on Tuesday night], but some of our staff didn’t.
‘‘It looks as though we’ve dodged a bit of a bullet. We haven’t had as much as we expected in the main street of Marton.
‘‘Having been through 2004 and 2015, they’re just too frequent and they do too much damage. Those thoughts certainly went through my head.’’
All businesses in the area had opened on Wednesday, he said.
Watson said about 50 people were evacuated from at-risk properties in Marton on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. Some had been shifted to motels and hotels, but many were staying with friends.
About 50 volunteers, rural firefighters and staff had also helped with sandbagging. ‘‘The threat’s not completely passed, by any stretch of the imagination.’’