12 December 2012

Page 17

ND

Queen St Pharmacy

aused havoc and story books

ding to our region. Waimea Weekly has complied this and a message from our mayor. The aim of this lift-out st possible look at how the floods affected our region. homes as possible by Christmas – even if just to collect some possessions. “It’s an ambitious goal but we aim to get everybody back in their homes, who can be back in their homes, before Christmas. It’s never a good time, but particularly at Christmas it does make it a lot more frustrating,” he says. The news for Rocks Rd is just as bad; the State Highway is likely to remain closed for the next few weeks while it is assessed. Civil Defence controller Jim Frater says the ground is still moving above Rocks Rd and geotechnical engineers are abseiling it this week to see how much. It could be months before it is reopened. The road to Cable Bay, where 42 residents are isolated, is likely to be opened within the next five days with access currently restricted to boat and helicopters. Aldo said supplies were being sent in by boat, with the latest shipment arriving yesterday afternoon. Residents are also being asked to conserve water after a 20 metre landslide has been found to threaten the Maitai Dam, main supplier of water to the region. The floods have had a huge impact on our region, whether they touched your life directly or not. The rain that caused them was record breaking and the financial cost will be huge. A mayoral fund, announced by Richard and Aldo, has been set up for people to donate towards the clean-up, especially for those who have been displaced from their homes. Readers can donate to the fund using the ASB Bank account, 1231 580176990 000.

Looking across the Oxford St carpark the old jail has its own moat. This water flowed onto Oxford St and into the adjacent properties.

SPECIAL EDITION

WEDNESDAY 21 December 2011

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And the fun side of the deluge: Te Puni Pihema, 15, and TJ Harman, 16, decided to take advantage of the strong water flows into the top of Jimmy Lee Creek just down from Hill St. During the day most of the teenagers were great, taking heed of police warnings about potentially dangerous spots to stay away from swimming or surfing.

Pumps working flat out clearing water from a property on the road to Rabbit Island. All around the area pumps were going, and in most cases just keeping up with the water being dropped.

The show must go on as Murchison Transport continue to deliver stock during the rains. Bear in mind it was pretty much a normal rainfall south of Brightwater so a lot of truckers did get a bit of a surprise as they hit Brightwater and Richmond.

This was a bit scary. This is Reservoir Creek just down from the twin pipe outlets. This photo was taken at the height of the rain on the first day. While getting close to some houses, again it appears it did its job and took the water quickly out to the drains and to sea. You still would not have stood a chance if you got caught in its ferocious flow.

Even the grass was too wet. Josh Hennessy, Oliver Hughes, Daniel Hitchens and Travis Brett take advantage of the downpour behind the growing shed in Washbourn Gardens to surf on the soaked grass. Looks like fun doesn’t it?


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12 December 2012 by Waimea Weekly Archives - Issuu