Lyttelton house evacuated due to slip, some Selwyn Huts residents stay put

A slip during heavy rain last night forced residents to evacuate a new home in Lyttelton.

The slip brought down a large section of the Cressy Tce embankment, including concrete steps and pathways, the New Zealand Herald reported.

It covered the road in front of the house, making it impassable for vehicles.

Fire and Emergency NZ was called to the scene at 7.30pm on Thursday.

But the full extent of the slip was not revealed until this morning.

A recently constructed retaining wall was no match for the force of the slip, the Herald reported.

It fell just short of threatening the homes beneath it.

Christchurch, Selwyn and Banks Peninsula remain in a state of emergency with widespread road closures – including SH75 to Akaroa. Banks Peninsula is currently isolated.

Residents decided not to evacuate

A Selwyn Huts resident who chose not to voluntarily evacuate on Thursday says those who stayed took proper precautions.

Selwyn Huts was one of the most at risk areas, with a state of emergency declared early yesterday.

Residents were all asked to evacuate as rivers rose but Kirrily Fea, who opeted not to leave, told RNZ's Morning Report they vigilantly monitored the situation.

"We were asked to voluntarily evacuate, however, there was a lot of information available to us, and we were vigilant about monitoring that.

"And we stayed in communication with all the agencies, and we made an informed decision to stay."

She said at the peak of the weather's impact they were watching what was happening with the river levels every 20 minutes.

"Our community is really quite tight-knit and we were in touch with everybody on Facebook.

"We have a really good Civil Defence volunteer group here that were in constant communication with Civil Defence, and … we had around about 10 people evacuate, which was just voluntary."

Fea is part of a local group fighting plans to abandon the settlement due to ongoing and future flood risks.

"Climate change is affecting us, but it's affecting everybody and it's not affecting us disproportionately."