'Once-a-century' floods have followed on from 100 mph winds yesterday
Christchurch
flooding a 'once-in-a-century event'
A
cliff has collapsed at Lyttelton as stormy weather - described by the
council as a one-in-a-century event - continues to batter the region.
5
March, 2014
A
strong smell of fuel was been reported following the landslip,
forcing a number of evacuations this afternoon.
Residents
in Brittan Tce and Cressy Tce are being moved from their homes due to
a suspected leak from fuel storage tanks at Lyttelton Port.
It
follows a landslip in the area earlier today.
Emergency
services are at the scene, after a concerned member of the public
reported a strong smell of fuel coming from the direction of the fuel
tanks around 1.50pm.
Cordons
are in place and nearby residents are being evacuated to Lyttelton
Main School.
Fire
and Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority engineers are on scene
to assess the situation, police said.
"There
have been no reports of injuries to any one and there is no immediate
threat to the public,'' police said in a statement.
More
information is expected to be released later.
Meanwhile,
Lyttelton residents are being asked to avoid Canterbury St in the
town after a retaining wall was damaged causing water to flow into
the street.
Evacuations
are possible, Christchurch City Council said.
It
follows a number of localised slips in the town, with council staff
working with residents associations to find suitable accommodation
for those who need it.
Lyttelton
Tunnel, and its approached from both directions, are open to traffic.
Schools
and roads throughout the Canterbury region have been closed by
flooding while more than 4000 homes and businesses remain without
power.
Mayor
Lianne Dalziel and Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Gerry
Brownlee hosted a media briefing at the council headquarters at
12.45pm.
The
weather was calming and there was a sense that the water levels were
receding, the mayor said.
She
advised people again that they should stay at home if they could, and
for family and friends to "look out for each other''.
Employers
were asked to stagger the release from work for their employees to
try and ease traffic congestion at peak times.
"That
would help the city get through this,'' she said.
A
welfare centre at Mairehau helped about a dozen people last night, Ms
Dalziel said. An assessment would be made at 3.30pm to see if it was
still required to stay open.
Staff
were doorknocking to see if if residents were okay and geotechnical
teams were "very carefully'' monitoring the Port Hills.
Mr
Brownlee said Cantabs are "well and truly over these'' major
natural events, but they had to deal with the aftereffects.
It
was well documented that the topography of Christchurch has "dropped
quite a bit'' and that had changed all of the flood modelling for the
city.
One
upside, albeit a small one, he said, was that the flood's experience
would help them plan for the future.
Mr
Brownlee said the flooding was "quite extraordinary'', and as a
local who lived in the city his whole life, had never seen anything
like it.
Asked
if they had done enough to prepare for the event, Ms Dalziel said
they had been preparing for a week.
At
5pm last night, the forecast was for a one-in-five-year event.
Now,
they were looking at a once-in-100-years event.
"We
couldn't have predicted the extent of rainfall which has occurred,''
the mayor said.
Ms
Dalziel and Mr Brownlee were taking a tour of the city in 4WD
vehicles ths afternoon.
A
programme that had assisted vulnerable households with emergency
repairs for earthquake damage will now be used to assist those
affected by the flooding, Mr Brownlee said.
He
travelled to the city to see how the Crown could help with the
council-led response to the flooding.
He
directed that the existing Winter Make It Right programme be made
available to help those with housing issues that will need addressing
but are not emergencies.
"People
should continue to contact the emergency services in the first
instance if they have urgent issues affecting them and their homes
arising from the current weather event,'' Mr Brownlee said.
Where
there are quake issues that have been made worse by the weather, or
new issues that have arisen which are not urgent but need attention,
people are urged to phone 0800 777 846.
Firefighters
have attended more than 300 incidents in Canterbury since the
southerly storm picked up yesterday morning, smashing windows,
bringing down trees and power lines and lifting roofs.
Gale-force
winds caused most of the damage yesterday morning, but by last night
it was heavy rain causing most of the issues.
Surface
flooding in the Richmond, St Albans and Mairehau areas had affected
at least 50 homes overnight. A welfare centre was set up at Mairehau
High School but only nine residents had needed to use it by this
morning.
Christchurch
City Council said a number of communities were isolated, including
Sumner and parts of Banks Peninsula. Council staff and contractors
were assessing the situation and would keep residents informed.
In
Little River, a number of people have evacuated to the hall, where
there has been no electricity since yesterday afternoon. A generator
is being sent and welfare provisions delivered.
Water
was being trucked into Little River and residents were asked to
conserve water in Banks Peninsula.
Southern
fire communications shift manager Andrew Norris said firefighters had
received about 70 calls overnight and some 300 calls since the storm
began.
"It's
mainly confined to water damage now - we've had a lot of surface
flooding and lots of leaking roofs and things like that. We've had
crews from the Fire Service and Civil Defence teams out last night
assisting occupants, putting tarps on roofs.
"Generally
with the surface flooding there's not a lot we can do - it's just a
matter of reassuring people and giving them advice."
Some
homes were protected by sandbags while firefighters helped to
evacuate three houses on Hulverstone Drive in New Brighton.
Firefighters
also helped to remove several people from cars that got stuck in
surface flooding overnight.
The
occupants of one car, who were rescued about 5am, were sitting on the
roof of the car when the fire crew arrived.
Police
are urging motorists to be extremely cautious and to put off any
unnecessary travel.
Acting
Canterbury road policing manager Glenn Nalder said police had helped
evacuate residents and rescue people stuck in cars. Patrols had also
located vehicles floating in water on Barrington St.
Mr
Nalder said police were continuing to help with road closures, slips
and flooded houses across the city.
There
had only been a handful of weather-related car crashes and no reports
of weather-related injuries.
Police
were not issuing a blanket warning to stay off the roads.
"But
people should check with their places of work and other commitments,
and if they do not need to travel then please - stay off the roads.
"If
people are driving then extreme care is necessary. Slow down,
increase your following distances and be aware that journeys will
take a lot longer today in the current conditions. Try to avoid
flooded areas and slow down if travelling through flooded roads."
Mr
Nalder also urged people to check on neighbours, friends and family.
St
John ambulance territory manager Blair Andrews said there had been no
increase in emergency calls as a result of the bad weather, but
challenging road conditions meant it was taking longer to respond to
emergency calls.
Christchurch
and Burwood Hospitals remain open today and all elective surgery and
outpatient appointments are going ahead as planned.
However,
patients have been advised to allow extra time to travel to hospital
and find parking. Visitors are being asked to consider delaying their
visits until later today, when the weather is forecast to ease.
The
District Health Board said there may be some disruption to meals on
wheels services, but staff were doing their best to get hot meals out
for lunch.
Plunket
said the storm had forced the cancellation of many appointments,
which were being rescheduled. It advised parents to stay home if they
did not need to leave.
Power
company Orion said 4100 customers were still without power, mainly
around Banks Peninsula but also in pockets of Christchurch and
surrounding area.
While
winds had eased, flooding, slips and water-logged ground in the hills
had prevented access to some parts of the network, delaying repair
work in some areas, including Banks Peninsula.
Orion
said some substations may need to be turned off in Christchurch today
due to rising floodwaters, which meant some outages were possible.
The
storm was ongoing so Orion was unable to say when power would be
restored.
"It
is quite likely that some customers will be without power overnight
tonight given the access issues. All available crews are working to
restore power as quickly and as safely as possible."
Christchurch
Airport remains open but travellers are urged to check their flight
details.
Further
north, Cook Strait ferries remain cancelled due to high winds this
morning. A KiwiRail spokeswoman said Interislander sailings were
hoped to resume this afternoon.
Christchurch
City Council has warned floodwaters were likely to be contaminated
and people should avoid contact, and wash hands and clothes that
touch floodwaters.
Isolated
issues with wastewater were expected and the council said unnecessary
toilet flushing should be avoided.
Rubbish
collections were continuing as normal but would be unlikely in many
low-lying areas. The council said bins will have tipped over and
spilled their contents, so contractors would clean up over the next
few days.
Geotechnical
engineers were checking the Port Hills following heavy rain.
Christchurch
school closures:
•
Aranui High School -
closed
•
Avonside Girls' High
School - closed
•
Beckenham School - closed
•
Ferndale School - closed
•
Hagley Community College
- closed from midday, night classes cancelled
•
Linwood College - closed
•
Mairehau High School -
closed
•
Mairehau Primary School -
closed
•
Marian College - closed
•
Opawa School - closed
•
Phillipstown School -
closed (updated)
•
Redcliffs School - closed
•
Riccarton High School -
opened at 11am, students can wear mufti
•
Rudolph Steiner School -
closed
•
Shirley Boys' High School
- closed
•
Shirley Intermediate -
closed
•
Shirley Primary School -
closed
•
St Thomas of Canterbury
School - closed
Christchurch
road closures:
•
Smith Street
•
New Brighton Road
•
Woodham Road
•
Avonside Drive/Wainoni Rd
intersection
•
Evans Pass Road
•
Marine Parade
•
Mount Batten St
•
Maces Rd/Ruru Rd
intersection
•
McBrateneys/Gayhurt Road
intersection
•
Waterloo Road/Kissel St
intersection
•
Albert Street
•
Barrington Street
•
Durham Street North at
Gloucester to Hereford Street
•
SH75 - Hilltop Road
through to Akaroa (Note: Akaroa is now isolated)
•
Ruru Road at the corner
of Maces
•
Wakefield Avenue at Evans
Pass Road
•
Marine Parade at
Mountbatten Street
•
Owles Terrace -
Seaview-Union
•
Carrick Street
•
Thornton Street
•
Archer Street
•
Harrison Street
•
New Brighton from
Queensbury Street to Avondale Road
•
Aylesford Street,
Hills-Westminster
•
Avonside Drive between
Wainoni Road and Torlesse
•
Speight Street
•
Flockton Street,
Warrington Street-Westminister Street
•
Fifield Terrace
•
Locksley Avenue,
Gayhurst-Glenarm
•
Banks Avenue, Coopers-
North Parade
•
Hills Road
Warrington-Warden
•
Fitzgerald Ave north
bound Kilmore-Cambridge
•
Richardson Terrace
Ferry-Opawa
•
Clarendon Terrace -
Radley-Opawa
•
Aynsley Terrace -
Opawa-Centaurus
•
Smith Street
•
Riverlaw Terrace
•
Eastern Terrace
•
Waimea Terrace
•
Aldwins Road,
Ferry-Linwood
•
Canterbury Street, at
Days Road
•
Slater Street,
Shirley-Warden
•
Warrington Street,
Hills-Barbadoes
•
Squire Street
•
Harrison Street
•
Edward Avenue,
Geraldine-Barbadoes
•
Edgeware Road,
Hill-Barbadoes
•
Dyers Pass Road, Summit-
Governors Bay
•
Summit Road,
Hilltop-Pigeon Bay Road
•
Pigeon Bay Road
•
Ensors Road south bound
Ferry to Brougham
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