Floods, slips hit Greymouth

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GREYMOUTH - Several houses were flooded by a downpour in Greymouth yesterday morning and a man was lucky to escape with his life when his car was carried 50m downhill by a landslide.

A Greymouth police spokeswoman said the deluge about 8 am followed heavy rain on Saturday and on Sunday night. It also caused several slips.

The water had all but disappeared by mid-morning, leaving residents to dry out their homes.

A Greymouth man, Jos Wellman, was returning to his Arnotts Heights property when he was enveloped in mud, rocks and trees as the hillside in front of him gave way.

Between 7 am and 9 am, 70.6mm of rain bucketed down on Greymouth, causing surface flooding and forcing some residents to evacuate their homes.

The downpour came after 162.6mm had fallen in 24 hours.

Greymouth's weather statistician, Phil Forrest, said it was the second-heaviest rainfall for a 24-hour period since the 1950s - the heaviest being 215mm in 1979.

Mr Wellman, a chef tutor at Tai Poutini Polytech, was returning home about 8.45 am to clean up flood damage at his property.

"I was approaching the first bend on Milton Rd when all of a sudden I was engulfed in all this mud and trees," he said.

"My car started going backwards down the hill and at one stage the vehicle was on a 45-degree angle and getting ready to roll."

Fortunately his vehicle settled back on to a more reasonable keel after being carried 50m down the hill.

"I tried to open the door and get out of there because I didn't know how much more of the mountain was going to come down.

"But the door was stuck and I had to kick my way out."

The rain followed a dry summer on the West Coast, which had brought the prospect of a total fire ban.

Forecasters expect the coast's weather to be settled and sunny for the rest of summer.

- NZPA