31 May 2021

Canterbury flooding: Danger far from over - Kris Faafoi

From Morning Report, 8:11 am on 31 May 2021

Rain has continued to fall overnight in Canterbury, as the region enters its second day in a Local State of Emergency. Canterbury Civil Defence Emergency Management Group declared the emergency yesterday afternoon.

Hundreds of houses were evacuated, as river banks threatened bursting, and there are numerous road closures.

It's expected in some areas there will have been up to 400 millimetres of rainfall.

Just after 9pm last night, people living close to the Eyre River in Waimakariri, just north of Christchurch, were told the river stopbanks were expected to fail, and they should evacuate immediately.

Acting Minister for Emergency Management Kris Faafoi is in Canterbury helping with the response.

He spoke to Corin Dann.