Thousands face evacuations in New Zealand's Canterbury flooding threat
Thousands of homes were at risk of flooding in New Zealand's Canterbury region and people along the Ashburton River were preparing for a mass evacuation on Sunday, authorities said, as continued heavy rain raised water levels.
- Country:
- New Zealand
Thousands of homes were at risk of flooding in New Zealand's Canterbury region and people along the Ashburton River were preparing for a mass evacuation on Sunday, authorities said, as continued heavy rain raised water levels. Three thousand homes were at risk of flooding, Acting Minister for Emergency Management Kris Faafoi said at a televised briefing after New Zealand's MetService issued a red warning for heavy rain for Canterbury and multiple warnings elsewhere.
"This is only the second red warning issued by MetService and will be a significant weather event," the service said in a statement on its website. The Timaru and Ashburton districts have declared a state of emergency with some evacuations already underway on Sunday, New Zealand media reported.
Neil Brown, the mayor of Ashburton, a town of about 35,000 people on New Zealand's South Island, said that "half of Ashburton" could be forced to evacuate if the river's banks break, The New Zealand Herald daily reported. Heavy rain is set to continue into Monday, Faafoi said.
"We're watching the situation very carefully," he said.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- READ MORE ON:
- Canterbury
- New Zealand
- New Zealand's
- Melbourne
- New Zealand's
- South Island
ALSO READ
Dr Shane Reti thanks Health New Zealand
New Zealand call Blundell, Foulkes for T20I series against Pakistan
New Zealand aims to boost U.S. ties amid global instability
New Zealand plans to celebrate centenary of 1926 Indian Army hockey team tour to NZ: Envoy
New Zealand plans to celebrate centenary of 1926 Indian Army hockey team tour to NZ: Envoy