Residents affected by flooding urged to contact council

Christchurch residents whose houses are uninhabitable are being encouraged to contact the City Council directly.

Christchurch residents whose houses are uninhabitable or whose health and wellbeing are being put at risk by repeated flooding are being encouraged to make direct contact with the City Council, ahead of a report being presented to the Government next week.

The Flood Taskforce's area-by-area analysis had made it clear that earthquake-related damage to land, houses, drainage systems and waterways was one of several factors contributing to severe flooding across the city.

It was equally clear that it was the main factor causing repeated inundation in the Dudley Creek/Flockton area, Mayor Lianne Dalziel said.

"What remains unclear is what this means in terms of how the risk and costs are apportioned between the home owner, the Crown including EQC, and the Council.

"However, I want to be very clear that as a council our primary focus is not on who funds what and when. It is on ensuring that the next time Christchurch has significant rainfall, people have not been forced to remain living in houses where water enters their homes or where they are surrounded by contaminated water."

Ms Dalziel said the taskforce's preliminary assessments of the number of households subject to ongoing flooding both above and below floor levels over the past six months were always going to change.

The worst-affected residents would be the "prime focus" of the report to Government next week, she said.

The technical report recommended a package of short-term solutions for each catchment area, some of which could be implemented either immediately or within the next six weeks.

These included a mix of engineering proposals, fast-tracking maintenance and network upgrades, and area-wide and site-specific temporary flood defence measures.

Flood impact analysis categories, with numbers affected:

* level 1: Two or more instances of flooding of dwelling floors since the earthquakes - 56 properties;

* level 2: Two or more instances of flooding under dwellings since the earthquakes - 471 properties;

* level 3: Two or more instances of flooding restricting resident access to dwellings since the earthquakes - 487 properties.