‘A job you shouldn’t have to do’: Clean-up begins as flooding eases, emergency lifts

Sunday, 4 May 2025

Tom Power has a big clean-up ahead after his farm was flooded on Thursday. He had urged the council to earlier open nearby Lake Forsyth to the sea, to no avail.

A Banks Peninsula farmer is facing a clean-up job he “shouldn’t have to do”, as floodwaters subside and Christchurch’s state of emergency lifts.

The city was back to normal on Sunday afternoon but an emergency status remains in Banks Peninsula, which was hardest hit and where a “couple of issues” persist.

. Heavy rain saw roads closed, houses flooded and roads to Banks Peninsula cut off last week, following one of the wettest days since records began.

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“Things in Christchurch have settled down,” Mayor Phil Mauger said on Sunday. “But we still have a couple of issues in Banks Peninsula that we need to keep an eye on so it’s good to have access to powers under the state of emergency if they’re required.”

Those issues included road closures and land instability, he said.

“We are still keeping a close eye on the stormwater basins, and monitoring river levels, to ensure we keep any disruption to a minimum.”

Kinloch farmer Tom Power said he was just starting to assess his flooded farm bordering Lake Forsyth on Sunday. It would take a few more days for the water to fully drain.

Power had urged the Christchurch City Council to open the lake prior to the storm, which he said would have reduced the extent of the flooding.

So far he had seen a lot of logs, and other objects, lodged in fences with broken wires.

“There’s bloody old shoes, there’s logs, there’s balls, there’s containers, all sorts of stuff … a few duck decoys too, which is handy.

Old shoes, balls and duck decoys were among the items that washed up on Tom Power’s farm.

“It’s not as bad as what guys in the North Island had with fence lines disappearing and that, but you’ve got to go along each fence line and clear grass. It’s just a job you shouldn’t have to do.”

Power was hopeful in the council would be more receptive to opening Lake Forsyth in the future.

Council head of Three Waters Gavin Hutchinson said on Thursday diggers were on site but had to wait for southerly swells to drop to ensure the channel stayed open.

Intense wet weather saw numerous road closures on Thursday.

Nearby, Little River’s SiloStay owner Rob Fowler said the small town appeared to be back to normal, with the main road no longer flooded and traffic flowing freely.

The weather had disrupted his typical bookings. Fowler had hosted some guests on Thursday night unable to get off the peninsula.

Only a handful of roads remained closed due to flooding. In Christchurch, Hendersons Rd and Empire Rd from Main North Rd were the only closures still in place.

In Banks Peninsula, remaining closed roads were expected to open early next week, except for Lighthouse Rd and part of Bossy Rd. A slip at Lighthouse Rd in Akaroa was being monitored, a Christchurch City Council spokesperson said, with no changes in the last 24 hours. The slip saw some residents self-evacuate on Thursday night.

The state of emergency in Banks Peninsula would be assessed again early this week.

Banks Peninsula MP Vanessa Weenink told RNZ on Monday the roads were clearer but there was a “huge impact” on people who had to leave their homes or close their businesses.

Flooded farmers on the shores of Lake Ellesmere and Lake Forsyth were “pretty upset”. They had asked the lakes be opened to the sea ahead of the weather event.

“People are feeling as though they weren’t listened to.”

Farmers around those areas were accustomed to water on their land, but sodden paddocks had a deep impact on farming, she said.

“[Some of] those paddocks will remain sodden for the winter. For some that’s hundreds of hectares.”

Environment Canterbury’s website said Lake Ellesmere was closed to the sea, however an opening attempt was in progress.

The lake was mechanically opened briefly on Saturday, and again on Sunday, but sea conditions closed it again, Environment Canterbury’s director of science Tim Davie told RNZ.

Machinery remained on site and an opening would happen as soon as weather and sea conditions allowed, the regional council’s website said.

Environment Canterbury (ECan) said last week the lake could only be opened in a joint decision with Ngāi Tahu.

Consultation began last Monday and the decision to do so was reached on Tuesday afternoon - but the sea was too large to attempt an opening, as the sea would simply fill it in again.

Davie told RNZ the council could have opened the lake earlier if it was an absolute emergency, but before the storm there was an orange rain warning out and it was expected to affect mainly North Canterbury.

“Even if we opened it, it wouldn’t have stayed open,” he said.