A man is lucky to be alive after his car was swept away when attempting to cross a flooded river in Canterbury overnight. Video / George Heard
A Canterbury man is lucky to be alive this morning after his car was swept away while trying to cross a flooded river in Canterbury during last night’s flooding.
“He was cuddled up in a ball on the roof of the car, looked like he was basically dead,” the eyewitness told the Herald.
When the Fire and Emergency swift water team made an attempt to rescue the man, according to the eyewitness, the man then jumped in the water which “freaked the rescue team out”.
“He shouldn’t have done that.”
The man managed to escape the two-metre high waters by climbing onto a tree in what the eyewitness said was a “chaotic” episode in the rural Darfield region.
Darfield fire chief John Chambers spoke after the rescue of the man attempting to ford the river when he “went down the river a little ways and got trapped”.
The man was able to walk to the ambulance by himself, despite being trapped atop the car in the frigid water for several hours. Photo / George Heard
He said he’s been on the roof for “quite some time” before the swift water team rescued him in the early hours of this morning, with help from police and St John ambulance officers.
He was able to walk to the ambulance himself, Chambers said.
The man was pulled out at roughly half past midnight last night. St John said he was then taken to Christchurch Hospital with injuries of a moderate-to-serious nature.
A man was rescued from his car roof after being swept away crossing a flooded river on McLaughlins Rd in Darfield, Canterbury. Photo / George Heard
More than a month’s worth of rain had fallen in many parts of Canterbury yesterday, with Akaroa in Banks Peninsula getting 198.8mm in 24 hours - its wettest day on record, according to Niwa.
A heavy rain warning remained in place until 7am this morning. Snow was also expected to fall overnight in some areas.
Chambers asked people to “think about where you’re driving your cars” especially when trying to ford a river.
“This same river has claimed three vehicles that we know of so far - well this is the third - so be careful.”
Akaroa in Banks Peninsula has provisionally observed its wettest day on record, on 198.8 mm from 9am Saturday-9am Sunday🌧️
Records at our climate station there began in 1978.
Numerous locations in Canterbury have received over a month's worth of rain with more still to come. pic.twitter.com/CoUECA674X
Ashburton District Council is warning residents of Methven and Mt Somers to boil their water before using it, as heavy rain has created “high turbidity” in the Methven water supply.
The precautionary boil water notice is effective immediately. Any residents connected to the scheme should boil drinking water, water used in food preparation, and any water used for hygiene purposes for at least one minute before consuming it, the council said.
The boil water notice will remain in place until further notice. There were no concerns for the Methven-Springfield supply at this stage.
A water tanker is on site this morning outside the Methven Medical Centre. Locals can text their post code to 4196 to receive free alerts and updates from the council.
Waimakariri MP Dan Rosewarne told Newstalk ZB yesterday the evacuation centre was expecting up to 115 families.
Rosewarne said the key message for locals was to “just check on your neighbours, knock on their door, see if they’re okay”.
“See if they’ve got supplies, see if they’ve got family themselves in the local area that they could, get help from and if need be just help them evacuate because some members in our community don’t always have a vehicle.
“They may have mobility issues so just knocking on your neighbour’s door and making sure that they’re okay.”
The Waimakariri District had had over 100mls of rain yesterday. The rain was expected to continue into the night, with potentially another 60 to 90mm on top of what had already fallen.
