Kōrero: Floods

Ngā whakaahua, ngā rauemi katoa

Mai i te whārangi 1 - New Zealand’s number one hazard

Annual cost of New Zealand floods, 1976–2004

Annual cost of New Zealand floods, 1976–2004

An aerial view of a braided river cutting through a green landscape with snowy mountains in the distance.

The Rakaia River

A man sitting on a horse leading a horse drawn carriage full of passengers and luggage across a flooded river.

Crossing the Waimakariri River

Whanganui flood, 1940

Whanganui flood, 1940

Large trees and other debris lying up against a low concrete road bridge across a river.

Forestry slash

A depiction of the Southern Alps showing where rain mostly falls.

Rainfall across the Southern Alps (1 o 2)

A map of New Zealand using colour to show mean average rain fall.

New Zealand mean annual rainfall, 1991–2020 (2 o 2)

A flooded small town and rural landscape.

Flooding in Matatā, 2005

Large trees and other debris lying up against a low concrete road bridge across a river.

Forestry slash

Mai i te whārangi 2 - 19th-century floods

A two-storey wooden building falling down into a river.

Damage to the Aglionby Arms

A row of eight flooded cottages, and people in a rowboat.

Little George Street, Wellington

A flooded city street with a crowd of people and horses.

Blenheim market place, 1890s

Painting of river and small houses in a brown landscape.

Gold-mining village, Clutha River

City street filled with flood water and people.

Queenstown floods (1 o 2)

City street filled with flood water.

Rees Street (2 o 2)

Mai i te whārangi 3 - The Kōpuawhara flash flood, 1938

Rows of very small cabins and other buildings.

Kōpuawhara No. 4 camp

A devastated landscape with broken buildings and river debris.

No. 4 camp after the flood

A tall concrete obelisk memorial surrounded by a fence.

The Kōpuawhara memorial

Mai i te whārangi 4 - Southland floods and Cyclone Bola

A man standing in front of a collection of images of flooding.

Reporting the disaster

People standing in a shop with bags labelled ‘Southland Flood Relief’.

Collecting relief funds

Agricultural landscape damaged by flooding.

Cyclone Bola

A damaged river bridge and flooded river next to a city street.

Bridge washout after Cyclone Bola

Golf players on a golf course covered with red fire hoses.

Fire hoses on the fairway

Disaster relief costs for Cyclone Bola

Disaster relief costs for Cyclone Bola

Mai i te whārangi 5 - 21st century floods

Aerial photo of a flooded river and broken bridge.

Pohangina River in flood

A house falling into a flooded river.

Loss of a house

A frightened cat sitting on a windowsill.

Zac the cat

Silt-covered farmland and fencing.

Silt-covered farmland (1 o 2)

A hole dug into farmland, with a 50cm ruler and layers of silt.

Silt layers (2 o 2)

Around 50 flooded suburban houses and a broken stop bank.

Edgecumbe flood, 2017

Two people travel down a flooded suburban street in a kayak.

Auckland Anniversary weekend, 2023

A man stands on a large pile of silt in front of a wharenui.

Cyclone Gabrielle, 2023

Mai i te whārangi 6 - Flood control

A man on a horse standing in flood waters in front of a hotel.

Greymouth: a town on a river (1 o 2)

Children standing flood waters in front of a shop.

Greymouth, 1970 (2 o 2)

A man walks up a mountain.

Lance McCaskill

A river in flood beside a city suburb.

Stopbanks

A road runs through flood waters with a broken stopbank on either side.

Broken stopbank, Whirikino

A dredge on a river.

Dredging, Ōhinemuri River

Cars and people collect together near a flooded river.

Waimakariri River breaks its banks, 1926

Mai i te whārangi 7 - River monitoring and flood warnings

Footrot Flats

Footrot Flats

Planning for flood-prone areas

Planning for flood-prone areas

Two men surrounded by large boulders.

Rocks for river control

Large concrete forms beside the sea.

Artificial rocks

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Eileen McSaveney, 'Ngā whakaahua, ngā rauemi katoa', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/mi/floods/media (accessed 25 April 2024)

He kōrero nā Eileen McSaveney, i tāngia i te 12 Jun 2006, reviewed & revised 1 Feb 2024