South Island faces the nature's fury again
Last week for two days, July 21 and 22, many parts of Canterbury, particularly Selwyn, South Canterbury and Waimakariri, experienced record rainfall, leaving the ground saturated and causing flooding in some areas. Hundreds of houses were evacuated, roads turned into rivers, and Christchurch, Dunedin, Timaru, Waitaki and the wider Otago region declared a local state of emergency.
While the rains stopped on Sunday morning and all states of emergency were lifted by Wednesday this week, the region – eastern areas of the South Island – is still reeling from extensive flooding. Making matter worse, are predictions from Metservice of another storm hitting the South Island this weekend, which could possibly bring more flooding to already saturated Canterbury.
Notably, New Zealand defence forces were called in flood-hit areas in Canterbury and Otago. They helped people out of Christchurch, Dunedin, Oamaru, Timaru, Waitaki, Ashburton and Outram as flood waters due to the rising Heathcote and Taieri Rivers threatened homes. As the current was too strong in some areas to evacuate on foot, boats were used for the same. To not let burglars take advantage of the evacuations, police patrols were in place overnight in majority areas.
Flooding also closed roads throughout Canterbury and Otago, including parts of State Highway 1. Boiling water advisories were issued in many parts of the region.
Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel who lifted the city's state of emergency on Tuesday said, “The immediate dangers posed by significant rainfall and abnormally high tides are now behind us. Although we are transitioning into a recovery period, we are still monitoring river levels, tides and weather forecasts very closely.”
Meanwhile, Minister of Civil Defence Nathan Guy, while praising the efforts of those who were involved in responding to the floods said, “The impacts of these floods will be felt for some time in communities throughout Canterbury and Otago. Thus, the Government is ready to provide support where it’s needed, and financial assistance is available to local authorities that have been affected.
“As further rain is forecast in coming days, we urge the public to take care. Don’t drive through flood waters and avoid non-essential travel as there is still widespread surface flooding and debris on the roads,” he cautioned.
Standout statistics: (coutesy NIWA - National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research)
- Oamaru’s wettest day on record since daily rainfall records started in 1950. That happened on Friday when 161.2mm was recorded in 24 hours. The previous record was 128mm in April, 2006. In a normal July, Oamaru’s total rainfall is 40.6mm. Moreover, winter 2017 has now become Oamaru's wettest on record and July 2017 the wettest July for the town on record.
- Dunedin had its wettest July day on record since 1918 on Friday when 89mm fell – beating the 2007 record of 75.8mm.
- Christchurch recorded 88.6 mm at the airport. Christchurch’s normal July total rainfall is 64.7mm. The extreme rainfall over the weekend coincided with some very high storm tides for Christchurch. The peak storm tide about about 3:15 pm on Saturday was equal highest recorded in last 13 years.
Last week for two days, July 21 and 22, many parts of Canterbury, particularly Selwyn, South Canterbury and Waimakariri, experienced record rainfall, leaving the ground saturated and causing flooding in some areas. Hundreds of houses were evacuated, roads turned into rivers, and Christchurch,...
Last week for two days, July 21 and 22, many parts of Canterbury, particularly Selwyn, South Canterbury and Waimakariri, experienced record rainfall, leaving the ground saturated and causing flooding in some areas. Hundreds of houses were evacuated, roads turned into rivers, and Christchurch, Dunedin, Timaru, Waitaki and the wider Otago region declared a local state of emergency.
While the rains stopped on Sunday morning and all states of emergency were lifted by Wednesday this week, the region – eastern areas of the South Island – is still reeling from extensive flooding. Making matter worse, are predictions from Metservice of another storm hitting the South Island this weekend, which could possibly bring more flooding to already saturated Canterbury.
Notably, New Zealand defence forces were called in flood-hit areas in Canterbury and Otago. They helped people out of Christchurch, Dunedin, Oamaru, Timaru, Waitaki, Ashburton and Outram as flood waters due to the rising Heathcote and Taieri Rivers threatened homes. As the current was too strong in some areas to evacuate on foot, boats were used for the same. To not let burglars take advantage of the evacuations, police patrols were in place overnight in majority areas.
Flooding also closed roads throughout Canterbury and Otago, including parts of State Highway 1. Boiling water advisories were issued in many parts of the region.
Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel who lifted the city's state of emergency on Tuesday said, “The immediate dangers posed by significant rainfall and abnormally high tides are now behind us. Although we are transitioning into a recovery period, we are still monitoring river levels, tides and weather forecasts very closely.”
Meanwhile, Minister of Civil Defence Nathan Guy, while praising the efforts of those who were involved in responding to the floods said, “The impacts of these floods will be felt for some time in communities throughout Canterbury and Otago. Thus, the Government is ready to provide support where it’s needed, and financial assistance is available to local authorities that have been affected.
“As further rain is forecast in coming days, we urge the public to take care. Don’t drive through flood waters and avoid non-essential travel as there is still widespread surface flooding and debris on the roads,” he cautioned.
Standout statistics: (coutesy NIWA - National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research)
- Oamaru’s wettest day on record since daily rainfall records started in 1950. That happened on Friday when 161.2mm was recorded in 24 hours. The previous record was 128mm in April, 2006. In a normal July, Oamaru’s total rainfall is 40.6mm. Moreover, winter 2017 has now become Oamaru's wettest on record and July 2017 the wettest July for the town on record.
- Dunedin had its wettest July day on record since 1918 on Friday when 89mm fell – beating the 2007 record of 75.8mm.
- Christchurch recorded 88.6 mm at the airport. Christchurch’s normal July total rainfall is 64.7mm. The extreme rainfall over the weekend coincided with some very high storm tides for Christchurch. The peak storm tide about about 3:15 pm on Saturday was equal highest recorded in last 13 years.
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