NC councils count the cost of wet July

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from Northern Outlook

From local democracy reporter David Hill:

The clean up is under way in North Canterbury after the wettest July on record.

The Hurunui district received more than double its normal July rainfall, while the Waimakariri district was pounded with four times the July average.

Hurunui District Council chief executive Hamish Dobbie said the rain had an impact on the roading network and clean up work was ongoing.

‘‘It wasn’t so much about the flooding, it was the amount of rain.

‘‘It has certainly caused some issues and our staff and contractors are busy with some patch up work until they can resolve the issues.

‘‘We had abnormal rainfall across the district. Cheviot normally gets 80mm in July and it had over 200mm.’’

Staff were still investigating what emergency funding the council might be eligible for.

In the meantime, Dobbie called for patience as staff worked on repairs as quickly as possible.

The Waimakariri District Council approved $3.15 million in funding at last week’s council meeting to assist with the clean up costs and flood works.

Mayor Dan Gordon said the council had a dedicated flood team working on repairs and responding to service requests.

‘‘We are continuing to work with staff to monitor the adequacy of our maintenance contracts.

‘‘There is also the $22m jointly funded, by council and the Government through its Shovel Ready Project fund, work in Kaiapoi on drainage and flood mitigation works.

‘‘This remains a high priority issue for the council.’’

Across the district there were reports of surface flooding on roads, drains being near capacity and a small number of properties had flood waters enter their homes.

The council received more than 1650 calls resulting in 800 requests for support or additional infrastructure during July.

‘‘Although we try, it is impossible to get someone to every single service request on the night,’’ a council spokesperson said.

‘‘That is why, with a triage system in place we can respond first to where we are needed most and work our way down.

Since July, council staff have been processing the 685 drainage and 130 sewer service requests.

This has included on-site visits, discussions with property owners, looking at council infrastructure and putting in place improvements.

Council staff were already working through about 1400 service requests from the May 2021, December 2021 and February 2022 rain events.

A flood team has been established to continue working through these requests, the council spokesperson said.

‘‘It is anticipated that it will take the team at least six months to work through these investigations.

‘‘Normally people can expect a response to service request from council staff within weeks of them contacting us.

‘‘At the moment, depending on the prioritisation of the issue, it may be several months before staff can meet on site with property owners as part of our investigations.’’