Torrential rain has left parts of Canterbury cut off after a month's worth of rain fell in one day.
Le Bons Bay flood damage Photo: Supplied / Adrienne Brown
A route into Le Bons Bay, one of the hardest hit areas, was achieved today, but one of its access roads isn't expected to be reopened for some time after a bridge was washed out.
Christchurch City Council contractors have been working throughout last night and today to clear slips and flooding.
Homes in Le Bons Bay were evacuated overnight after the stream burst and took out part of the hillside.
Anita Osborne lives in Le Bons Bay township, a few kilometres inland from the beach and said the weather was something she'd never seen or heard anything like it.
"You would just hear a roar of stones, a rumble coming through the forest, and then there would be a mud river flowing across the property," she said.
Le Bons Bay flood damage Photo: Supplied / Anita Osborne
Osborne was given the option to evacuate last night, though didn't need to take it.
Amazingly, their house was fine - but the rest of the property wasn't so lucky, strewn with boulders and silt.
"There was a loud crack and a great big tree fell down and then that blocked a back stream up above us and then that sent the river coming down in a different direction," Osborne said.
Adrienne Brown lives near the beach at Le Bons Bay and told RNZ the gully down the middle of the bay was a raging torrent spewing mud yesterday.
"It's gone right around the back road and flooded the houses down Rue de la Mer. There's just silt and slushy mud everywhere. It's going to take a long time to clean up and it's going to ruin a lot of people's Christmas," she said.
Brown has lived in the Bay for the past 11 years and said she's not seen rain or damage like this before.
Le Bons Bay flood damage Photo: Supplied / Adrienne Brown
She said on first inspection it looked like four baches had water through them.
"Everything was just looking good for Christmas and some people were coming over to their baches and now they're going to have mud all through them and carpets to lift up, which isn't nice at all."
Brown said it has left her feeling sick at the thought of what the owners will face when they make it over to Le Bons.
At Carol and John Masefield's sheep and beef farm at nearby Goughs Bay, the bridge providing the only road access to their home has been washed away.
Carol Masefield described how they were using horses to assess the damage this morning.
"The only access now is right down at the beach to get across so we can get up the hill to the rest of the farm. Because of the tides, we've only just managed to get the horses across the creek at the beach now."
She said the creek has turned into more of a river and she expects the community has a massive clean up on their hands.
"There are a lot of slips on the hills and a lot of debris - we can't believe where all these trees have come from...they've come down and wiped everything out."
Le Bons Bay flood damage Photo: Supplied / Anita Osborne
Banks Peninsula ward Councillor and Christchurch City Deputy Mayor Andrew Turner said damage is still being discovered and the clean up is expected to take a while.
"There are a few bays which have been or remain shut off after heavy rain caused rivers and streams to burst their banks and leave water flowing where it wouldn't normally...Roads have become secondary streams and there are slips and flooding blocking access."
"This type of thing isn't unusual on Banks Peninsula when there is heavy rainfall, but when you get close to or over 100 ml of rain falling and big concentrations of water flow in these valleys, then it creates a worse incident than we would expect to see on the Peninsula," said Mr Turner.
"This isn't the time of year that we would be expecting [severe flooding]. Normally, people are planning barbecues and beach visits, not planning a clean up after a big flood like this."
- Lavericks Ridge Road, from Le Bons Bay Road to Lavericks Road.
- Camerons Track/Big Hill Road, from Summit Road to Le Bons Bay Road/Lavericks Ridge Road.
- Flea Bay Road, from the first cattle stop.
- Dawbers Road
- Hickory Bay Road
- Stony Bay Road, from Purple Peak
- Dalglishs Road
- Long Bay Road
Le Bons Bay Valley Road is closed indefinitely due to a bridge wash-out.