New Zealand flood: Hundred evacuated after torrential rains and landslides

Monday, August 22, 2022

There are hundreds of people have been forced to evacuate their homes after torrential downpours smashed New Zealand for the third consecutive day. The residents in parts of the North Island found themselves isolated after landslides, fallen trees and floodwaters blocked highway access.

The stormy and muggy weather has also forced some schools to close, airlines to cancel flights and left entire streets submerged.

At least one boat sank during storms near Auckland and the downpours caused a home to slip down into a gully in the suburb of Tāhunanui, outside the city of Nelson. Around 230 homes in Nelson were evacuated on Wednesday and remained off-limits overnight after the Maitai river flooded. The military was pictured patrolling the area overnight.

Rachel Reese, Nelson’s mayor, described flash flooding in the city as a “one-in-100-year event”. She added that the city’s infrastructure was under pressure, telling the television show AM: “We are dealing with a lot of wastewater overflows.” The data from weather forecaster Metservice revealed that areas in the north of the South Island had seen more than 300mm of rain over 24 hours.

Another 160 homes in the town of Westport were also temporarily evacuated, but residents have since been allowed to return. Roads throughout the nation were closed due to flooding and landslides. In the Buller region, mayor Jamie Cleine told reporters that the rain had so far been lower than forecast but there was more on the way.

Mr Cleine warned that more rain was forecast. Westport was still in recovery from devastating flooding in July 2021, when more than 2000 people were evacuated from 826 properties. Many of the properties were still in the process of being repaired after that disaster.

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