‘We have lost everything’: Banks Peninsula gets five months worth of rain in 35 hours

Wednesday, 18 February 2026

Dozens of primary students are holed up at a marae, properties are damaged and Little River’s main road has become a “raging river” after unprecedented rain crashed over Banks Peninsula.

The area entered into a local state of emergency on Tuesday as the weather whipped through the nation, causing landslides, power outages, floods and cut off communities.

Welcomed sunshine will arrive on Wednesday afternoon after the peninsula received more than five times the average amount of rain for February in 36 hours, particularly at Little River and Akaroa.

The storm brought down trees, caused slips, landslides, power outages, and closed schools, dozens of local roads and State Highway 75 overnight, cutting communities off from the city.

The peninsula was told to conserve water, and Little River and Wainui were issued boil water notices for the foreseeable future after flooding damaged infrastructures and caused septic tanks to overflow.

Akaroa residents and visitors were told to not drive towards Little River, where flooding remained in and around the township.

School children ‘having a ball’

A group of 60 students, parents, and teachers from Kahikatea Kirkwood Intermediate School stayed an extra night at Ōnuku Marae near Akaroa after floodwaters cut them off from returning to home through Little River on Tuesday.

The two Year 7 classes travelled to the marae on Monday as part of an annual orientation programme where students learn about the traditional history of the area - due to return home Tuesday.

Principal Phil Tappenden said senior staff had considered not sending the students given the weather forecast, but collectively decided to go ahead.

“On reflection we could’ve made a different decision, but I knew they’d be safe and that’s the main thing,” he said.

All parents had been informed and were understanding and supportive, Tappenden said.

“They look after us superbly - it’s a safe place to be,” he said of the marae. “The kids are having a ball.”

Ōnuku Rūnanga general manager Jo McLean said everyone was safe, warm and well.

The students are expected to return home on Wednesday, weather permitting.

RNZ is reporting another group of about 40 primary school children were stuck at Wainui Park Camp, run by the Kind Foundation.

The foundation's chief executive Josie Ogden Schroeder told RNZ the camp was in a building on a hill away from the river and had food, water, power and communications.

'This is a country school, they are full of beans, they're totally relaxed … they're all absolutely fine, they are very safe where they are,' she told RNZ.

'I believe that school is turning this into a pretty awesome learning experience for those kids.'

Ogden Schroeder said heavy rain should not stop outdoor education but had they known the road would be cut off, they would have advised that it was not a sensible time to be coming to Wainui.

School trips scheduled for the rest of the week had been cancelled, she said.

Trapped in a car

Firefighters rescued a woman from the floodwaters at Little River as the storm arrived on Monday, and four other people trapped in a car surrounded by a river of water were rescued at Wairewa Marae on Tuesday, but many properties could not be saved, including Greg Boyle’s.

Trees caught up in a slip diverted a nearby river through Boyle’s Little River property, forcing his family and neighbours to evacuate.

Classic cars, tractors, sheds, the house, farm fences, tools, trees and landscaping - it’s all been destroyed or damaged, he said.

“The damage is unbelievable,” Boyle said. “We have lost everything.“

Residents, business owners and emergency services in Little River’s sleepy township all agreed, it’s the “worst’’ flooding they’ve seen in decades.

The floodwaters were so high down the main street a man was seen driving his jet boat on the highway.

On Tuesday, resident Carys Monteath said her “whole property is a raging river” on Western Valley Rd and her fences had been lost in flooding.

Little River may have seen the greatest impact of the floodwaters, but over the hill and across the valley, Akaroa was hit with the highest rainfall, receiving nearly 300mm of rain in almost 36 hours between Monday 12am and Tuesday 1pm.

Its usual rainfall for the February is 53mm, according to Niwa statistics.

Little River received almost 180mm, almost five times its average February rainfall of about 37mm, according to Time and Date data.

Across the harbour at Wainui, a stream-turned river washed away a bridge on Jubilee Rd and uprooted trees and debris, dragging them across roads.

Back in Christchurch city, the Heathcote River burst its banks in Beckenham, flooding streets and threatened to inundate homes.

Over the Port Hills in Lyttelton Harbour, the weather caused two vessels to come off their moorings, grounded an 11m vessel in Corsair Bay, and a 9.7m vessel in Cass Bay.

Rain easing

The rain began to ease on Tuesday evening, with dry weather expected for Christchurch and Banks Peninsula from Wednesday afternoon through to Thursday - giving residents a window to begin clean-up efforts.

MetService meteorologist Katie Lyons said while there would be some light showers overnight and into Wednesday morning, skies would begin to clear by late morning with sunny spells in the afternoon.

“Things are starting to pull away to the east so we should see some clear skies,” she said.

Temperatures would return to more typical 20C by Wednesday, Lyons said. A cold front was moving towards the West Coast later in the week but was nothing it couldn’t handle.

Last May Christchurch entered into a state of emergency after heavy rain thrashed the city and Banks Peninsula. Across the entire weather event, Banks Peninsula recorded about 300mm of rain in 55 hours.

Te Roto o Wairewa Lake Forsyth was opened to the ocean to help drain the lake just after 3pm, but high swells and tides could close it again.

High swells or tides may cause the opening to narrow or close, as waves can push gravel back into the channel. To manage this, staff are actively monitoring conditions, and equipment remains on site so the opening can be maintained if required.