In December 2019 the river’s banks broke flooding properties, cutting access across the river at SH1 and SH79. Heavy flows were recorded again in late May. “An initial text alert was sent this morning to local farmers and landowners advising that the river is likely to rise during the day,” Hawker said. “We will provide further alerts if the situation changes. It is not anticipated there will be any out of river breakouts, but we will be monitoring the situation throughout the rest of the day and overnight.” Hawker said an excavator was used to open the river mouth straight into the sea from the main channel preventing the river flow backing up against the coast, reducing the risk of flooding to the South Rangitata Huts.
Martin Van Beynen05:00, Jun 05 2021
ALDEN WILLIAMS/STUFF
Beef and dairy farmer Rob Withers saw his Springburn farm, near Mt Somers, ravaged in the Canterbury floods, the geography of the land itself entirely redrawn by the power of the water.
An intensively farmed region of Canterbury lying between the north branch of the Ashburton/Hakatere and Hinds rivers was one of the hardest-hit by this week s floods. Reporter MARTIN VAN BEYNEN spent four days in the area assessing the impact. Farmers in Mid-Canterbury knew it would be bad. The MetService warned that 200-300 millimetres of rain was expected to “accumulate” about the high country between 3pm on Saturday and 11am on Monday. The rain would cause dangerous river conditions and significant flooding, the agency said.