Surface flooding in Timaru

Washdyke Flat Rd, Kellends Hill, Rosewill Valley Rd, Kerrytown and Naughton roads have been closed and seven fords throughout the district are now impassable.

Timaru District Council land transport manager Andrew Dixon said things were changing quite rapidly.

"The rain may intensify in the next few hours and that could cause problems then."

Mr Dixon said this rainfall was worse than last week's because the ground was already saturated.

"We still have more rain to come. There’s flooding occurring around the roads at the moment, particularly Station Rd, near Temuka, Winchester-Geraldine Rd, Kellands Hill Rd, Holmes Station Rd and Peel Forest Rd."

Those roads were being monitored and if they become flooded they will be closed, he said.

Evans St in Timaru also has some surface flooding, with the Showgrounds BP forced to close when water from the Taitarakihi Stream swamped it this afternoon.

Mr Dixon said State Highway 1 near Showgrounds Hill in Timaru could also possibly be closed due to flooding. He said Opus International Consultants have been in talks with the council about possible detour options.

It is the second time in a week that persistent rain has caused problems in the area.

Last week 200 millimetres of rain fell in some parts of South Canterbury. However, the latest deluge has only reached 30 millimetres in some parts so far, but that was likely to increase, according to the Metservice, which has forecast for 60 to 90 millimetres.

Environment Canterbury’s duty flood controller Philip Lees said although not as much rain has fallen this week compared to last week, it still had the potential to cause problems.

"The difference is the ground is already saturated (from last week’s rain)."

He said rivers were starting to rise, but were not a concern at this stage. However, ECan is monitoring Pareora, Tengawai, Waiho and Temuka rivers.

"It just depends on what happens with the rain, but they are really only just starting to rise."

Meanwhile Waimate District Council reported the Pareora River Rd closed at Southburn.

Roading manager Rob Moffat said the area north of Waimate had been affected by surface flooding. He reported no damage but plenty of water mainly in coastal areas.

Snow has also been falling throughout the morning on Lilybank Rd near Tekapo, but has not settled.

● MAJOR FLOODING AREAS

Station Road (SH1)
Winchester Geraldine Road
Kellands Hill Road
Holme Station Road (Beaconsfield Road intersection)
Peel Forest Road
Washdyke Flat Road
Connells Road
Brookfield Road (impassable at the bridge)
Major’s Road, GDE
Earl Road (full width)
Brenton Road (full width and may become impassable soon)
Old North Road (Washdyke End, full width flooding)
Gay Pass Road (major flooding but passable with a 4WD)
Opihi School Road
Naughton Road (full width, impassable)
Kerrytown Road (full width)
Sterndale Valley Road (4WD access only)
Opihi Road (at the sharp bend before Opihi School Road, major flooding, may become impassable soon)
Waitohi-Pleasant Point and Waitohi-Temuka Road corner (major flooding, may become impassable soon)
Taiko Hall Road (impassable at the Taiko Road end)
Pleasant Valley Road (major flooding from SH79 – School Road, full width but passable at this stage)
Winchester Hanging Rock Rd (by the private golf Course near Hilton, major flooding, full width but passable at this stage)
McKeown Road (water crossing road in two locations, passable with car taken)

● IMPASSABLE FORDS

George Ward Road
Pudjeck Road
Arundel-Belfield Road
Lloyd Road
Pithie Road
Crombie/Kirk Road
Pareora Ford Road
Basset Road
Brockley Road
Keane Road
Doake Road (Smart Munro)
Smart Munro
Esler Road
Marshall Road
Lapthorn
Casey Road
Goodwin Road (Winchester Hanging Rock Road)
Monument Road Ford
Middle Road
Agnew Road

● CLOSED ROADS

Washdyke Flat Rd
Kellands Hill Rd
Rosewill Valley Rd
Naughton Rd
Kerrytown Rd
Brookfield Road (impassable at the bridge)
Langridge Road, closed at Waitohi-Temuka Rd and Ackroyd Road
Seven Sister’s Road Bridge at John Talbot Road
Centennial Park Road
Pareora River Rd closed at Southburn.

Road closed signs are up on Washdyke Flat Road/Laughton Street, Rosewill Valley Rd/Cartwrights Rd, Spur Hutt Road and the top of Kellands Hill Road.

● SURFACE FLOODING

Evans St
Station Rd
Winchester-Geraldine Rd
Kellands Hill Rd
Holmes Station Rd
Peel Forest Rd

● RISING RIVERS

Pareora River
Tengawai River
Waiho
Temuka River

● SCHOOL BUS INFORMATION

Ritchies Bus Services has confirmed that all bus runs in Timaru, Geraldine and Fairlie are running early to get school children home.
The Aoraki Polytech bus service to get Oamaru and Ashburton students home is also running early at 2pm today.

ECAN ON WATCH FOR RIVER LEVELS

South Canterbury has escaped extensive flooding at this stage - but it could all change if the rain moves inland.

ECan spokesman Tony Henderson said while 10 to 15mm of rain an hour had been falling overnight, it had been confined to the coastal region, meaning river levels were not rising at this stage.

But the situation could quickly change if the rain moved inland.

At this stage the Metservice is predicting similar heavy rainfalls for the next 12 hours.

''If (the rain) moves inland the rivers could go up quickly as the catchment is already saturated,'' Mr Henderson said.

Some Timaru Herald facebook users have reported surface flooding in their backyards, while Beaconsfield Rd farmer Gordon Chambers is moving all his newborn lambs under cover.

Mr Chambers, who is about 20 per cent through lambing, told the Herald this week's rain was worse than last week.

The southern mouth of Saltwater Creek, to the south of Timaru, is being opened this morning as a precaution. The north mouth was opened during last week's heavy rain.

At this stage snow is predicted to fall down to 700m. While it was sleeting in Lake Tekapo at 9.30am, all roads in the Mackenzie Country appear to be open.

Mt Dobson Ski Field is reporting 25cm of snow overnight and is expecting a metre to fall today. That comes on top of the 1.3m the field received in a 24 hour period a week ago.