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Kōrero: Floods

Waimakariri River breaks its banks, 1926

Image
Cars and people collect together near a flooded river.

The Waimakariri poses a long-term threat to the city of Christchurch. In the 19th and early 20th centuries it regularly broke out of its channel when in flood, but protection works were put in place to constrain it. Significant damage to the flood control stopbanks of the Waimakariri and Kaiapoi Rivers occurred during the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes to the north of Christchurch, near where the rivers enter the sea.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Christchurch City Libraries

Reference: CCL PhotoCD 14 IMG0090

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Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Eileen McSaveney, Floods – Flood control, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/photograph/4905/waimakariri-river-breaks-its-banks-1926 (accessed 1 July 2026).

He kōrero nā Eileen McSaveney, i tāngia i te 2 March 2009, updated 1 February 2024.