Source: Radio New Zealand
Vogeltown resident Janis McLauchlan woke at 4 this morning to a river outside her window.
She lives with her husband Jimmy on Balfour Street, and her son lives in the house at the back of the property.
Torrential rain has brought flooding and landslips to the region. Emergency vehicles are out around the city, with pictures showing large amounts of water flowing along main routes. In the suburb of Mt Cook, half a dozen cars had been seen floating down the street.
Water on Balfour Street had risen high enough to float Janis’ Toyota Corolla 90 degrees sideways and halfway across the driveway, a glass bottle wedged between the tyre and the body of the car.
Jimmy’s vintage cars are badly water damaged. Jamis and Jimmy McLauchlan
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Two brick walls were lying in bits, one over the driveway on top of a layer of silt, and one had fallen into the neigbours’ garden.
Jimmy’s vintage cars – 1920s Chevrolets – which he’d owned since he was a young man, were parked in the garage and badly water damaged. As was his stamp collection, which had been worth thousands, which was among the treasure trove of old items in his “man cave”.
“It was like a little museum, stuff I’ve found,” he said.
Jamis and Jimmy McLauchlan
Janis said she was feeling “a bit numb, because I don’t quite know…. we’ll just have to get on with it”.
MetService’s severe thunderstorm warning was lifted before 6am, as the heaviest downpours eased but rain was still affecting parts of the city.
More orange weather warnings and yellow watches were in place for for Monday as a low pressure system crossed the country.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
