Flood threat in South Canty

Press, 20 May 1987, Page 2

Flood threat in South Canty

Some South Canterbury roads had minor surface flooding yesterday but if rain continued overnight serious flooding in the region’s rivers could result Rain began to. fall on Monday morning and up to midday yesterday between 40mm and 60mm of rain had been - recorded. The weather forecast predicted between 50mm and 70mm could : fell overnight ■■ “If we get that we could have serious flooding,” said the South Canterbury Catchment Board’s water resource engineer, Mr Frank Scarf. Most of the region’s rivers were low yesterday. He hoped the weather might clear from the south-east but in the meantime Catchment Board staff would keep a close watch on the rivers. Heavy rain fell on the northern part of the West Coast until mid-morning yesterday, but then eased. The Buller district recorded 35mm of rain, Greymouth 69mm, and Hokitika 56.3 mm, while in South Westland, Fox Glacier had 24.4 mm dnd Haast 14.6 mm, according to the Ministry of Works at Westport ■■ The design engineer of the Westland Catchment Board, Mr Ron Daniel, ( said that river levels were ' relatively normal, indicating that the bulk of the rain had fallen on the coastal plain rather than in the ranges.