Weather: Heavy rain brings flooding in Christchurch, strong winds and snow forecast – صحيفة الصوت

• Heavy rain has caused flooding in several areas on Christchurch, including by the Heathcote River and Oxford Tce
• There are multiple road closures in the central city, including parts of Fitzgerald Ave and Cambridge Tce
• Several Christchurch schools are asking students to work from home today due to high river levels and flooding

Tuesday appears to be the South Island’s turn for a bout of severe weather after heavy rain and winds gusting up to 120kph hit the North Island on Monday, causing flooding, slips and road closures.

Heavy rain overnight is causing issues in Christchurch, with residents warned to prepare for more flooding in parts of the city and slips in hillside areas.

Flooding has been reported in Christchurch on Tuesday morning by the Heathcote River and Oxford Tce. Some schools – including Christchurch Girls’ High, Hillmorton High, and St Thomas of Canterbury College – are asking students to work from home as flooding has made it difficult to access classrooms.

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The rain comes less than a week after surprise flooding in the city trapped people in their homes and waterlogged cars after rivers broke their banks.

READ MORE:
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* Weather live: Landslip warnings as heavy rain moves down NZ, snow expected in South Island
* Heavy rain watch for Marlborough on Monday night

Peter Timbs on Edgeware Rd has been flooded for the third time in three weeks.

“Today is one of the worst. The water is flowing in. It’s up to about three centimetres,” co-owner David Timbs said on Tuesday.

The shop had flooded at least twice a year for the last 10 years, he said.

Timbs was “frustrated” at the city council for not having the drains fixed.

“It’s reasonably simple, we just want the drains fixed so we can trade,” he said.

He had been in the shop since 4.30am trying to save what he could.

The Christchurch City Council is urging people to take care on local roads, several of which have been closed due to heavy flooding.

A heavy rain warning was in place for Tasman and Motueka on Tuesday morning, while Canterbury, North Otago and Dunedin had a heavy rain warning in place until Wednesday morning.

A heavy rain warning was also issued for the western Bay of Plenty until 9am on Tuesday, and MetService warned it could lead to flooding and slips in the area.

Snow had led to multiple road closures in alpine areas, including SH73 from Arthur’s Pass to Otira and Springfield to Arthur’s Pass (Porters Pass). SH8 is closed between Fairlie and Twizel and from Tarras to Omarama (Lindis Pass).

In the North Island, Waka Kotahi has advised motorists of road closures due to slips in the Coromandel on SH25 between Coromandel and Te Rerenga and between Kuaotunu and Wharekaho.

A slip has closed SH33 between Allport Rd and Hamurana Rd near Rotorua.

For Auckland and Northland, heavy rain should clear early in the day but would return with frequent showers by the afternoon, according to MetService. Strong northerlies would also continue in the area throughout Tuesday.

On Monday, the top of the North Island was hit with winds up to 120kph, which caused speed limits on Auckland’s Harbour Bridge to be reduced and ferry services in the city to be cancelled.

Two schools and multiple roads in Northland and the Far North had to be closed due to the downpours, and thousands in the Far North were left without power due to the wild weather.