South Island weather stations record 1 metre of rain – more than Christchurch s annual rainfall stuff.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from stuff.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Franz Josef township has about 20 years before the massive stopbanks protecting the community will no longer be up to the job of holding back the wild Waiho (Waiau) River, experts warn.
From wind strong enough to toss two train carriages, to seven-storey waves ripping buoys out of the Southern Ocean, New Zealand's weather is wildly changeable. And it's only going to get wilder.
A landowner whose family farmed near Franz Josef for decades says it is not the best idea to let the river have its way on the south bank, as the government and councils are now proposing.