Hundreds of residents have been evacuated and more wait for instruction as rivers rage in Canterbury.
Video / Supplied / Hamish Clark / MetService
FLOODING LATEST * Civil Defence orders residents of the low lying areas of The Pines Beach to evacuate * State of emergency declared for entire Canterbury region after heavy rain and flooding * The Eyre River has dropped overnight and 133 residents can return home. * The Ashburton river is 1m away from bursting its banks, Acting Minister for Emergency Management Kris Faafoi says. * MetService says more bad weather forecast to hit the already drenched Canterbury region - next 24 hours critical.
Hundreds of north Canterbury residents have been evacuated from their homes - and further south, hundreds more Ashburton residents are on standby - as rivers rage across the region, fuelled by a one-in-100-year deluge.
The entire Canterbury region is now under a state of emergency and around 75 schools and pre-schools are closed on Monday as residents prepare for more upheaval.
Ashburton mayor Neil Brown said some locals had already started to evacuate overnight as rising river levels continued.
Authorities are due to head out at first light to assess the damage.
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"The rain is actually easing at the moment. But it has been heavy rain right throughout the night," Brown said.
"We do have key messages for the communities - that is stay home, stay safe."
Schools would also remain closed until further notice.
Firefighters respond to water rescues, evacuations and weather-related incidents
Southern fire communications shift manager Simon Lyford said they had helped police with "a couple" of water rescues overnight, as well as helping police and Civil Defence teams with precautionary evacuations.
See how the rain has built up in Canterbury since Saturday. Image shows rainfall accumulation in mm since 1am Saturday in MetService and ECAN rain gauges. Red Warning runs to 3pm today, the end is in sight! Check the latest radar imagery on https://t.co/1rQfBmVPzQ ^TA pic.twitter.com/WGfRSjWrch
Other than those events, Lyford said Fire and Emergency NZ teams had been called to about 20 weather-related incidents in the region overnight.
Those incidents included reports of water leaking through house roofs and water entering properties.
There are currently ten state highway closures in place throughout Canterbury, Waka Kotahi said.
Canterbury residents can text RV then short code (river) to 3730 to receive river flow information from Environment Canterbury. The cost is 30 cents per message.
The MetService has officially extended the rare Red Warning for heavy rain for Canterbury.
The warning - which affects Canterbury south of Amberley - was initially due to lift at 11am today.
Locals are being told that a further 80mm to 100mm of rain is expected about the Canterbury High Country and foothills - bringing the rainfall totals for this area to above 400mm in some inland areas for the entire event, MetService said.
A further 30mm to 50mm of rain is also forecast on top of what has already fallen further east about the Plains and coast.
Peak hourly rainfall rates of 10mm to 15mm per hour are on the cards about the High Country and foothills.
"The rain is expected to cause dangerous river conditions and significant flooding."
Again, locals were warned that such conditions could result in more roads being impassable and communities being isolated.
On Sunday evening, Waimakariri District Council ordered residents living near sections of the Eyre and Ashley rivers to leave their homes. Stopbanks on the two flooded rivers were at risk of failing or expected to give way.
The evacuation order affects 133 properties near the Eyre River and 102 along the Ashley River. Eight households at Kairaki are also being evacuated.
Fire and Emergency personnel were assisting with the evacuations. Affected residents were told to stay away from the rivers and surrounding areas until further notice.
And as the Ashburton River rose to dangerous levels, officials warned that up to 4000 people and thousands of homes were at risk if it breached stopbanks.
Fire service inspects a bridge on Ashburton Staveley Rd this morning. Photo / George Heard
Sandbagging was under way and the military had been brought in to assist should large scale evacuations be required.
The torrential rain is set to continue until later Monday - and many areas are planning for further evacuations, particularly near the Ashburton River which is nearing capacity.
Canterbury Civil Defence Emergency Management group controller Neville Reilly said officials were "just holding our breath overnight".
"Everything is holding reasonably well but we just can't afford to take chances. There's a lot of contingency planning going on so that if something untoward should happen we are in a position to get people out and give them somewhere to go."
Evacuations, rescues
Canterbury residents are waking to a region-wide state of emergency today after torrential rain caused rivers to burst their banks and forced mass evacuations in what is being labelled a one-in-100-year event.
Heavy rain flooded the region yesterday, closing roads, sparking dramatic helicopter rescues and sending Civil Defence scrambling to set up emergency welfare shelters.
And, despite parts of the region being already drenched by up to 300mm of rain, MetService warned that more bad weather was on the way and the situation could get worse before it got better.
Flooding at Winchester - South Canterbury. Photo / Stu Jackson
Eight residents were evacuated last night from Geraldine retirement village, and six people tending stock were airlifted to safety yesterday afternoon after being trapped by rising floodwaters at Okuku in North Canterbury.
Ashburton, Selwyn and Timaru all declared states of emergency yesterday before a region-wide state of emergency was declared by Canterbury Civil Defence just before 5pm.
Emergency services had been bracing for the extreme weather, with forecasters predicting "red alert" rain conditions since Friday.
A Fire and Emergency spokesperson said last night their southern communication centre had dealt with around 100 flood-related callouts in the past 12 hours.
"That includes people with water coming into their homes and people needing to be rescued from floodwater, as well as things like power lines brought down by trees."
Flooding at Winchester in South Canterbury. Photo / Stu Jackson
St John Canterbury district operations manager Curt Ward said staff had established an emergency operations centre in Christchurch and sent additional resources and specialist team members to the area to assist.
Acting Minister for Emergency Management Kris Faafoi addressed media in Ashburton on Sunday afternoon, saying heavy rain was expected to continue overnight and into Monday.
As of Sunday afternoon, the Ashburton River remained a major concern, and Faafoi said the next 24 hours would be critical.
Part of a bridge washed out on Porters Pass. Photo / Canterbury Highway & Weather Information / Facebook
The state of emergency for the Ashburton District has been declared for seven days.
Mayor Neil Brown said "half of Ashburton" would need to be evacuated if the river's stopbanks broke.
But there was "still quite a bit of capacity" in the river.
"We need it to stop raining to let those rivers drop," Brown said.
He said if residents were feeling unsafe they should call 111 or leave if it was safe to do so. But they should stay home if possible and "be cautious when out and about".
Police warned rubberneckers venturing out yesterday to see the flooding to stay home for their own safety and that of emergency workers.
The Ministry of Education said by 7pm last night, 52 of the region's 292 schools, and 24 early learning centres, had confirmed they would close today. Others would decide this morning.
NZTA was monitoring roads and bridges, and a number of state highways in the South Island had been affected by floodwaters.
A state of emergency had been also been declared in Timaru at 11.42am, said mayor Nigel Bowen.
"We want to give police the powers to force evacuation because we have some people not wanting to move on from specific areas.
"If you're being asked to move, please do so. This particular one was close to a stopbank and ... we just need people to be really sensible in their decision making today."
Two Civil Defence welfare centres have been set up in Geraldine at St Andrew's Hall and the Geraldine High School library.
A local Civil Defence emergency was also declared by Selwyn District Council at 2pm.
"With a declaration in place we will be better placed to manage road closures which are expected across the district throughout today, especially if the state highway network is affected," Selwyn Civil Defence controller Douglas Marshall said.
"We really do urge people to stay off the roads. Travel is likely to be disrupted for some time, and we do not want to see travellers becoming trapped."
Early on Sunday afternoon around 70 residents of Selwyn Huts were asked to "evacuate now" as the rising Selwyn River was expected to cut off access to the settlement.
Meanwhile, Selwyn District Council advised residents of Sheffield, Waddington and Springfield to evacuate if they had concerns, as surface flooding affected significant areas of the township.
A notice given to residents said the road would be closed after the evacuation order, and manned until it was safe for residents to return.
Evacuating residents were asked to secure their homes, turn off power, water and gas, and take enough medicines and personal items for two to three nights.
Resident Robby Hyde, who lives in the Upper Huts, said the river was expected to rise up the huts yesterday afternoon.
Of the 70 permanent residents he suspected some would choose to stay behind in spite of the evacuation notice.
"I think a lot of people will go, and a lot will stay, because it's their home," he said.
Fire and Emergency personnel are assisting with the emergency evacuations. The evacuation order affects 133 properties near the Eyre River and 102 along the Ashley River.
Eight households at Kairaki are also being evacuated.
Anyone along the river from Wolffs Rd and north of the river to North Eyre Rd must evacuate immediately.
The Ashley River stopbank is also at risk of failure and Fernside residents between Mt Thomas Rd, Oxford Rd and Merton Rd should evacuate immediately.
Affected residents have been told stay away from the rivers and surrounding areas until further notice.
UPDATED 1.15PM
Mount Thomas Road, Mertons Road and Oxford Road residents can now return to their homes.
Residents no...
Heavy rain is set to continue overnight and into Monday, so water levels are likely to rise, Acting Minister for Emergency Management Kris Faafoi said.
UPDATE 3:50PM Due to flooding, SH77 Glentunnel to Windwhistle & SH8 Fairlie to Tekapo are CLOSED. SH1 Temuka, SH73 Springfield to Castle Hill & SH79 Fairlie to Rangitata remain CLOSED. There is also suface flooding on SH1 Ashburton. Please only travel if it's essential. ^EH pic.twitter.com/RwgaTYG4Sv
— Waka Kotahi NZTA Canterbury & West Coast (@WakaKotahiCWC) May 30, 2021
Brown said if residents were feeling unsafe in their homes they should call 111 or leave if it's safe to do so.
There was still "quiet a bit of capacity" in the river. "We need it to stop raining to let those rivers drop," Brown said.
Emergency services were prepared for the bad weather due to forecasting since Friday.
More than 1000 homes are now also without power across Christchurch. Photo / Hamish Clark
Floods are building in Ashburton. Photo / Hamish Clark
Hinds River bridge on SH1 flooded between Ashburton and Hinds. Photo / Hamish Clark
Acting Minister for Emergency Management Kris Faafoi at a media briefing in Ashburton today. Photo / Hamish Clark
Where to go for official updates
Remember, always call 111 if you think your life or the lives of others are in danger.
These sites contain flooding updates for Canterbury areas, including emergency notices, road closures, river flow, flooding warnings and places to get more information:
