Over a month’s worth of rain fallen over parts of Canterbury, rivers still rising

Akaroa may have experienced its wettest day on record as Canterbury rivers continue to rise and roads remain closed on Sunday afternoon.

Torrential rain overnight has left multiple roads and highways closed, including Fitzgerald Ave late on Saturday night, and parts of Beckenham alongside the Heathcote River impassable on Sunday morning.

MetService’s orange warning for Canterbury south of Cheviot was extended from 9pm on Sunday to 3am on Monday, with another 60 to 90mm of rain expected on top of what had already fallen, mainly about the foothills and high country.

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Regional council Environment Canterbury at 2pm on Sunday said there was still a chance of river flooding on Sunday afternoon.

Eyre, Cust, Cam, Ohoka rivers in Waimakariri were reaching capacity and Civil Defence was monitoring them.

The Selwyn River was rising at 2pm and was expected to keep rising through the day.

Meanwhile, all rivers in the Ashburton District were running high but the council was not expecting flooding from them.

The Orari River in the Timaru district was at risk of localised flooding.

Niwa reported Akaroa had provisionally observed its wettest day on record (Niwa began keeping records there in 1978), receiving 198.8mm of rain in the 24 hours from 9am Saturday.

“Numerous locations in Canterbury have received over a month’s worth of rain with more still to come,” it said on Sunday.

MetService meteorologist Alwyn Bakker said two heavy rain warnings had been extended until early Monday, and were expected to bring another 60 to 90mm of rain to the region.

Most weather stations across the Canterbury Plains recorded 40 to 60mm of rain overnight, with some even higher, such as the 74mm recorded in Ashburton, he said.

Further inland, the Canterbury high country recorded about 50 to 60mm, but had a bigger variance, with some stations measuring just 20mm, he said.

The heavy rain warnings – now in place until 3am Monday – were for Canterbury south of Cheviot, eastern Marlborough south of Ward, and Canterbury above and north of Cheviot. A heavy rain watch was also in place for North Otago.

A slow moving low pressure centre sitting a bit east of the country directing easterly moisture straight into the Canterbury region was causing the rain, with the position of the low affecting how long and where the weather was directed, Bakker said.

While the rainfall was “pretty high”, it was not as bad as the rain that caused widespread flooding in Canterbury in 2021, he said.

Waimakariri mayor Dan Gordon said there were no current plans to evacuate people.

“Of course, this is an evolving incident, and we will continue to monitor the situation closely.”

Civil Defence Minister Kieran McAnulty had been in touch to offer support, he said.

Sandbags were available at Rangiora New World, while more were being delivered to the Kaiapoi Rugby Football Club and the Oxford Town Hall.

Council spokesperson Kim Nutbrown said an emergency operations centre had been set up at the council headquarters.

She urged residents to call the council if they had reports of blocked drains or surface flooding, or 111 if there was any threat to safety.

A map on the council website showing road closures was being updated throughout the day.

ECan duty flood controller Shaun McCracken said he was aware of a lot of surface flooding “all over the northern part of the region” and teams were out in Waimakariri, Selwyn and Ashburton districts monitoring river levels.

There were no plans for any evacuations, but McCracken said he “certainly wouldn’t rule it out”.

State Highway 75 was closed until Sunday afternoon between Birdlings Flat and Cooptown (Little River) due to a slip near Little River. It was the same area hit by a slip just last month.

Akaroa Top 10 Holiday park acting manager Jenny Bain said she had about seven guests who were meant to go home on Sunday but had to stay a bit longer until the main road into Christchurch reopened.

“[The rain] is not as heavy as it was but it is continuous,” Bain said at midday.

A Christchurch City Council spokesperson said she was aware of one slip in Akaroa that prompted a resident to leave their home due to concerns posed by a construction site above.

She said Banks Peninsula had experienced heavier rainfall than the city, and several roads remained closed.

A Selwyn District Council spokesperson said their response team was called to a property in Leeston overnight, where a pump was used to clear flooding.

All 11 fords in the district were closed and the council’s emergency operations centre was open on Sunday to support residents.

Sandbags were available from Dunsandel Community Centre, Hororata Community Centre and Sheffield Domain.

Selwyn District councillor Shane Epiha said the local Civil Defence team went through the township of Leeston with the local fire chief about midnight on Sunday to assess pinch points, map the worst affected areas, sandbag in some spots and conduct welfare checks.

The community had rallied around, with the volunteer fire brigade and members of the public turning up to assist, and Suburban Eatery cafe opening up in the early hours of the morning to provide free coffee, Epiha said.

Christchurch City councillor Aaron Keown wrote on Facebook that police had to close Fitzgerald Ave to northbound traffic about 11.40pm on Saturday.

In the suburb of Beckenham, residents on Facebook said the Heathcote River was over the road on Eastern Tce, Fisher Ave and Hunter Tce.

Multiple state highways were closed overnight due to snow, including SH8 (Twizel to Fairlie), SH80 (Aoraki Mt Cook Highway), SH73 (Porters and Arthur’s passes) and SH7 (Lewis Pass), but all had since reopened, though caution was still required.

SH77 from Thompsons Track to Pole Rd in Mid Canterbury was closed Sunday afternoon due to flooding, and caution was needed on many local roads through the wider Canterbury region.

Timaru mayor Nigel Brown said the council had a duty controller monitoring the situation but the worst of the weather appeared to be north of the South Canterbury city.

On Sunday morning, the Christchurch City Council said there were several road closures “after a wild and windy night”.

“Please take care on the roads and drive to the conditions.”