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Story: Floods

Greymouth, 1970

Image
Children standing flood waters in front of a shop.

In 1970 the central part of Greymouth still flooded as it had when the first European settlers arrived more than 100 years earlier. It was only after the Earthquake Commission refused to continue paying insurance for flood damage that a flood protection wall was built.

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by Simon Nathan

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How to cite this page

Eileen McSaveney, Floods – Flood control, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/4898/greymouth-1970 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Eileen McSaveney, published 2 March 2009, updated 1 February 2024.