Flood cost put at $2 million

Press, 13 August 1986, Page 1

Flood cost put at $2 million

CHRIS TOBIN

in Timaru South Canterbury’s flood was, with the exception of the March 13 "monster,” the biggest flood recorded in the region since 1965 and repairs will cost about $2 million. “If you put the March 13 flood aside, this latest flood was still a substantial one in its own right, in fact the biggest since ■ 1965,” said the South Canterbury Catchment Board’s general manager, Mr Bert Stringer, yesterday. Repair work from the $62 million March flood was expected to take the Catchment Board two years to complete. Now, said Mr Stringer, it was "back to the drawing board.” A preliminary estimate of damage to South Canterbury’s in-river systems has been put at about $1.3. million but Mr Stringer said some duplication from the March flood might have occurred. Strathallan County estimates the damage will cost more than $300,000 to repair and Waimate County, which did not suffer very badly in the recent flood, expects its bill will be about $lOO,OOO. These damage estimates were given to the Minister of Civil Defence, Mr Tapsell, when he visited Timaru briefly yesterday morning. “In general this was a flood we would expect every 10 years,” said Mr Stringer. "For the South Ashburton River,, however, it would be getting near the 50-year mark and for the Hinds River it A total of 25 bridge approaches in Strathallan County have been damaged by the flood, and six in Waimate County, but motorists are not expected to be iriconveni-

enced too greatly except at the Hanging Rock bridge. Te Moana Downs water supply should be repaired by midday today, but the Downlands supply might take Strathallan County a few days to repair. The Civil Defence emergency at Temuka and Milford was lifted early yesterday morning and 38 families were relieved to return to their dry homes. Perhaps the person who suffered the most during the flooding was a Japanese student, Yasunobu Yoshida, aged 22, who spent Sunday evening sitting on the roof of his car as floodwaters swirled round him in Pig Hunting Creek. Mr Yoshida’s car was swept into the swollen stream just. south of Timaru at 11 p.m. and came to rest 500 m from State highway I. He waited on the roof of his car until daylight and then waded through chestdeep water to safety. He went to the home of Mr Mervyn Switalla, where he received help. Mr Yoshida is on holiday in New Zealand and following the rugby fortunes of the touring Osaka College of Physical Education team which will play at Ashburton today. South . Canterbury’s weather during the last 12 months has been bizarre. The . region has seen four floods this yehr, all of which have come only months after the fourthworst drought South Canterbury has experienced. The floods, struck on March 13, May 17, July 7, £? *S3“uS y for. 21 years was :recorded. 5 • ,

In Timaru so far this year 596 mm of rain has fallen compared with 193 mm for the same -period* lastyear. •