Red Cross sent in to support wintry Canterbury

Thousands of homes in Canterbury still remain without power as wintry weather continued to grip the region overnight.

Further bad weather warnings has led to the region being flooded with military and emergency service assistance, in preparation for another round of predicted storms.

Defence Minister Phil Goff authorised military assistance on Thursday and yesterday the Red Cross sent a team into the region to offer support to local efforts.

Red Cross North Canterbury area manager Carol Ball told NZPA in addition to the five people sent to Geraldine yesterday from Christchurch another two expert drivers were arriving today.

The second team would bring with them another landrover which Ms Ball described as a "workhorse" and would act in whatever capacity they were directed to.

"Part of what we are doing is to relieve people on the ground and to give extra hands in case anything else goes wrong."

Red Cross staff had been called in from Nelson and Blenheim to Christchurch and were on standby in case conditions in the Canterbury region worsened, she said.

Electricity lines companies had reported good progress yesterday in reconnecting properties that have been without power for the last five days.

Between 1000 and 1500 properties were still without power in South Canterbury, with about 3000 waiting to reconnected in Mid Canterbury.

Around the south and west of Christchurch, Orion expected to have only about 500 properties without power and in North Canterbury, Mainpower contractors had expected all properties to be reconnected by yesterday afternoon.

- NZPA