A publican on Banks Peninsula says for the first time in 50-odd years, businesses on the main road of Little River have been flooded.
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Little River, about 30 kilometres south of Christchurch, is cut off while the main road is awash.
A state of emergency remains in place in Selwyn, Christchurch and Banks Peninsula.
Canterbury’s civil defence and emergency management says rain is easing in the region and they will be spending the day assessing the damage.
Publican Sarah McFarland said a breached stream ran through the entire lower level of her Little River Inn on Thursday, as well as a couple of other businesses on State Highway 75, and that sort of flooding has not been seen for half a century.
She said after a wet summer, the water had nowhere to go, and farmland in the area has also borne the brunt of heavy rain and floodwaters.
McFarland said she was hopeful the inn would be back up and running soon.
‘No longer a little river’
A Banks Peninsula business owner says Little River is no longer an accurate description for the village.
Rob Fowler, who runs accommodation in the area, told RNZ on Thursday: “You know, in a little village like this, there’s lots of little bridges and you see the water rushing through like 20 times at the level. The river is 20 times the size of what it normally is, more than that.
“A little river is no longer a little river.”
Fowler said it was the third time the settlement has flooded since he moved there in 2010.
Volunteer firefighters had been flat-out trying to divert the water, he said.
rnz.co.nz
