Evacuate immediately: Emergency alert sent to some Timaru residents

The Timaru District Council sent out an emergency alert to residents in the Coopers Creek catchment north of the Orari River, telling them to evacuate immediately due to flooding.

People in low-lying areas are being told to leave immediately, and go to higher grounds.

Motorists are advised not to drive through flood waters, due to possible debris and road hole and potential contamination.

Evacuees can go to friends or family or to the Temuka Civil Defence Centre - Alpine Energy Stadium situated in the Temuka Domain or the Geraldine Civil Defence Centre situated at Geraldine High School.

Officials have been meeting this morning in response to the flooding disaster that has hit Canterbury since the weekend due to heavy rainfall.

In Ashburton, river levels have been falling but it could take two or three more days to drain and people need to keep their bags packed in case stopbanks burst, Ashburton District Mayor Neil Brown says.

As heavy rain continued today, half of Ashburton's residents had been preparing to leave their homes.

Officials had been meeting this morning in response to the flooding disaster that has hit Canterbury since the weekend due to heavy rainfall.

In the latest update on flooding in the region, Brown spoke alongside council chief executive Hamish Riach.

He said while it had stopped raining the river was still full and there was still pressure on some spots.

Residents were still required to have a bag packed and be prepared to evacuate, he said. It could be another two or three days before the catchment dropped back to normal levels.

Riach said it may feel like it's "just a rainy day" but the pressure on the rural area was high with a lot of surface flooding. There were other issues including floodwaters getting into the wastewater system.

Four bridges were gone, and there were numerous roads where the seal had been lifted off the road, Brown said.

Seventeen roads were closed, including the Gorge Bridge and Rakaia Bridge - the roads to Christchurch.

Residents should avoid any unnecessary travel and remain at home, Brown said.

"There is a lot of damage, a lot of water has been swirling around, creating holes in the road, and if there's water still in them, you won't see them and your car will just drop into them."

Meanwhile, Christchurch City Council says all roads which are currently closed will remain closed until at least 9am tomorrow.

The council has a live map showing all road closures, but says the service is crashing at times due to heavy demand.

If you need to check the map, you can find it here.

 

Where to go for official updates:

Remember, always call l 111 if you think your life or the lives of others are in danger.

These sites contain flooding updates for Canterbury areas, including emergency notices, road closures, river flow, flooding warnings and places to get more information:

Christchurch City Council flooding updates page
Ashburton District Council flooding updates page
Selwyn District Council flooding updates page
Waimakariri District Council flooding updates page
Timaru District Council is posting updates to their main page.
The regional council for Christchurch: Environment Canterbury
Canterbury Civil Defence Emergency Management page.
Canterbury District Health Board flood-related advice
No captionPhoto: RNZ / Nate McKinnon