A state of emergency has been lifted for Canterbury's Selwyn District today but another remains in place for Banks Peninsula.
Selwyn District Mayor Sam Broughton said improving weather allowed him, in consultation with Civil Defence, to terminate the declaration about 3pm.
The declaration was made early yesterday as the province was deluged with rain, and was followed by another for Christchurch and Banks Peninsula yesterday afternoon.
That currently remains in effect.
"In taking this step, we understand that there are still people in the district who are coping with the effects of flooding on their properties," Broughton said.
"This includes those in both our townships and our rural areas.
"Not being in a state of emergency does not reduce our commitment to support those who have been directly affected.
"We will continue to respond to requests for assistance over the weekend and into the next week."
It was confirmed late this afternoon that Banks Peninsula would remain under a state of emergency, probably until tomorrow, after intense rainfall cut off several communities.
Controlled access is only now being restored to places like Little River.
Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger confirmed the emergency declaration would stay in place for now, particularly to support isolated residents.
It comes after emergency workers were today assessing Banks Peninsula for slips after the heavy rain.
Teams were out at first light assessing the extent of slips.
MetService says 100mm to 200mm of rain fell on the Canterbury region between Wednesday and Friday morning, while parts of Banks Peninsula saw up to 300mm.
On April 30, Christchurch (80.2 mm) and Ashburton (105.4 mm) saw their wettest April day on record. For Ashburton, it was their wettest day in at least 19 years, while Christchurch records go back to 1943.
Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger said the state of emergency, declared at 4pm, was due to the impact of the wet weather such as flooding, slips, landslide and falling trees, particularly on Banks Peninsula.
He said the city council was particularly concerned about the damage to Lighthouse Rd in Akaroa.
"We're a bit worried - there's a crack in the road about a good 100m long, 50mm wide, but it's definitely - something's going to move.
"It's not if, it's when, so we've got to look at that and keep going."
Three homes in Akaroa and one in Lyttelton have been evacuated as a precaution because of nearby slips, and a slip has also closed Dyers Rd in Christchurch.
"Very quiet night as far as rain goes," Mauger told RNZ earlier today.
"Thank goodness it stopped raining, because we've got at the top end of the Heathcote River, we've got some massive, retention basins that hold over a million cubic meters of water. They did not need one more drop in them because they're full."
He said the city was "a little bit ahead of the eight ball" when it came to managed retreat as the damaging earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 forced their hand early.
"We're 200m back from the river in most places."
Publican Sarah McFarland said a breached stream ran through the entire lower level of her Little River Inn yesterday, as well as a couple of other businesses on SH75 and that sort of flooding has not been seen for half a century.
After a wet summer, the water had nowhere to go, she said, and farmland in the area has also borne the brunt of heavy rain and floodwaters. McFarland said she was hopeful the inn would be back up and running soon.
'The water has nowhere to go'
A Canterbury resident is questioning why officials didn't act earlier to open a lake before heavy rain caused damaging flooding.
Pip Adams lives near Tai Tapu and said she tried to get officials to open Lake Ellesmere to help the water drain last night, but they didn't.
It was the second time the area has flooded in two years, she said. "The water has nowhere to go."
She rang the Christchurch City Council after she got home, finding water lapping on neighbour's doors.
"They gave me no help - apart from to ring 111."
She started digging and called Environment Canterbury (ECan), as she needed the Ellesmere flood gates opened.
"We needed some sub-gates open to let the water subside and drain off."
But she was told it was after-hours and she'd have to call back for help from 8am today. The opening of Lake Ellesmere was out of ECan's hands and she should ring the marae in Southbridge.
She then called the marae, but was again told to call back in the morning.
"I appreciate the complexity of Lake Ellesmere - but we have stock, we have pressures, black fantails that we're preserving as well so, and our bees, and we've lost everything."
Fire and Emergency NZ crews did arrive last night but had nowhere to pump the water to, Adams said.
"It's almost like they're trying to flood us out so that we'll leave - it's ridiculous."
Environment Canterbury said the lake could not be reopened at the moment because it was not safe.
Adams said she expected her repair bill to cost tens of thousands of dollars and she would send it to the regional council because she felt it was at fault. The worst of the damage was the barn conversion and she was preparing to rip up the floorboards.
She has a business in Rolleston with eight staff. "I can't support my staff because I'm here cleaning up."
Her boarder had to evacuate and she expected it would take time to repair the damage before they could return.
The water had gone down significantly by this morning, but Adams was preparing for a lengthy clean-up. She wanted officials to face the music and answer for their decisions.
Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell said he was confident officials made the right call not to open the lake to the sea, saying it was not a new situation for local leaders and they were on the same page.
"I've got full confidence that they had all the information in front of them and with that information they made the right decisions in terms of how they were managing that."
But Adams said the minister was "uninformed and delusional".
'Huge amount' of surface flooding in Selwyn
Selwyn District Mayor Sam Broughton, at Darfield, told earlier RNZ's Morning Report programme the weather had eased overnight and the forecast for today was positive.
"So, that's a good sign, but it is certainly very wet underfoot. There's a huge amount of surface flooding that's here, and I really want to thank everyone for the effort yesterday and overnight and appreciate what they did for our community, and to [Emergency Management and Recovery] Minister Mark Mitchell, who also visited - really appreciate the national and regional support in this."
There were a few people who were forced to leave home, he said, and the Lincoln Events Centre remained open for those who needed somewhere safe to stay.
"The state of emergency remains in place in Selwyn, and our emergency operation centre is fully operational and teams are out at first light again, checking and watching river levels particularly, which have peaked, but will only lower slowly as our rivers don't exit out into the ocean.
"Halswell River in particular is high and will continue to sort of creep higher… over the morning until that can be open - and that could be not today. It could be tomorrow. It just depends on conditions. It might be, over the weekend.
"I think the two biggest areas of concern is Banks Peninsula and the Selwyn District. I think the Banks Peninsula because they're totally isolated at the moment, obviously the priority is to get the roads reopened, and then start assessing these actual and potential landslide risks around the peninsula.
"So I think one thing we really need is daylight for the teams to get out to have a look at that.
"Within the Selwyn District it's the surface water, not so much the river flooding. The rivers are staying within their banks, even though they're extremely high, but there's just a lot of water out on paddocks across roads, within the district and the wider Canterbury region."
Thankfully, there had not been widespread power outages, he said.
"We're lucky we've managed to keep the power on and the utilities have done a fantastic job in that space."
There are a number of road closures and roads affected by surface flooding across the local roading network today. Some of these key roads include: Springs Rd between Boundary Rd and Tancreds Rd, Leeston Rd/Drain Rd Goulds Rd Old Tai Tapu Rd between Tai Tapu Domain and Early Valley Rd.
SH1 at Selwyn River remained open at this stage. The New Zealand Transport Agency/Waka Kotahi was continuing to monitor the situation and motorists should take care if you need to travel and drive to the conditions.
- Reporting by RNZ, ODT Online and Star News
