Source: Radio New Zealand
Flooding at Little River Cafe. Cameron Gordon/Supplied
Three properties have been red-stickered on Canterbury’s flood-hit Banks Peninsula after torrential rain last week.
The local state of emergency on the peninsula was lifted by Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger at 12.30pm on Monday.
The area was lashed by heavy rain last week, causing widespread flooding and slips, particularly in Little River.
Mauger said the region could now enter a recovery period and the council was focused on supporting locals and repairing damaged water and roading infrastructure.
Christchurch City Council controller Duncan Sandeman said three properties had been red-stickered and two yellow-stickered, and the council was waiting for the results of further inspections.
He said the council was still working to finalise the number of flooded properties, most of which were in Little River.
Access had been restored to all isolated properties, but Sandeman said it was too early to calculate a damage bill for the storm.
Little River was still deep in clean-up mode after the settlement was swamped on Tuesday.
Little River Cafe & Store owner Cameron Gordon said the cafe had closed indefinitely because flood damage was worse than first thought, although the business was being run from another building down the road.
“We’re having to close it down probably for a couple of months. Anything wooden has to be pulled out. So, that’s walls off, all our cabinetry, all our tables, benches, work benches, everything’s going and needs to be tossed and redesigned and rebuilt,” he said.
“I think the longest part is getting some cabinetry designed and built fast, that’s going to be the hard part, which we’re going to work on today, try and find someone that’s ready to drop everything and help us out with that.”
Little River Cafe and store owner Cameron Gordon RNZ/Nathan McKinnon
Gordon estimated the damage bill for his cafe would be about $100,000.
He was heartened by the support of locals who had helped him shovel silt and mud out of the building and move furniture.
“We’re still muddling through the clean-up, still pulling things out of the cafe to be thrown, still doing trips to the dump,” he said.
“People have just really banded together, just getting it done. It’s going to be a long, slow process, I think, it’s a huge job.”
Flooding at Little River Cafe. Cameron Gordon/Supplied
Gordon said it would take a long time for Little River to get back on its feet.
“I know the service station and second-hand store are still deep in the clean-up mode. I know a lot of properties are still very badly damaged and people are still asking for a lot of manpower to come out and help them,” he said.
“A lot of people are still in bad spots and still very unknown as to the state of their houses. It’s just still very fresh, I think, for most people.
“I’ve got four different properties with damage, so I’m just sort of shuffling between the four of them, chipping in on each one each day, then still being a chef at the restaurant.”
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
