State of Emergency in Christchurch due to flooding

Poor Christchurch! Sad to hear that a state of emergency has been declared in Christchurch.

I wonder if the flooding, caused by heavy rainfall, was compounded by the prior earthquake.

Not necessarily. The Heathcote River burst it's banks, which I guess can happen to any river where there has been heavy localised rainfall in it's catchment area.

Poor Christchurch indeed. :(

Poor Christchurch! Sad to hear that a state of emergency has been declared in Christchurch.

 

I wonder if the flooding, caused by heavy rainfall, was compounded by the prior earthquake.

Check out Dunedin . They had a dumping of rain as well . The rain was almost as heavy as you get in Queensland.:eek:

Yes the flooding has been compounded by the earthquakes. The rivers have not been dredged of the liquefaction. Google Hulverstone Drive in Christchurch and you will see where my home once was. Now the lot is completely under water.

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Indeed, a bad situation. Best wishes to all Kiwis. Soldier on and keep cruising.:)

Yes, Otago suffered flooding as well.

Sun is shining today after a frosty start.

Slips have closed the Peninsula road to Harrington Point......Albatross Colony .

Work will begin to clear the road tomorrow.

Yes, Otago suffered flooding as well.

Sun is shining today after a frosty start.

Slips have closed the Peninsula road to Harrington Point......Albatross Colony .

Work will begin to clear the road tomorrow.

The road is now open, earlier than originally anticipated.

Hopefully no one loses their lives by doing something stupid like driving through flood waters.

Check out Dunedin . They had a dumping of rain as well . The rain was almost as heavy as you get in Queensland.:eek:

I read that Dunedin is cut off by land slips. Do you know why NZ is prone to land slips? 1 in 500 year flood and king tides no wonder a state of emergency was called in the South Island!

Essentially much of the coastal land was cleared of native forests (a century or so ago) to provide farming land and that farmland is more susceptible to erosion than when it was forested. Then they cut through the hills to make the main highways safer and smoother but those cuttings are slips-in-waiting. Plus the composition of the hills is softer than in Australia - clay rather than sandstone.

There are some serious hills just to the north of Dunedin so it's not surprising that there would be slips in conditions like they've just had.

With such a lot of rain the ground just gets too saturated and then there is nothing to hold it together.