A year after unprecedented floods inundated mid-Canterbury, affected residents and authorities are calling for additional support from government.
File photo: Flood water lashing the Ashburton Bridge on 30 May. Photo: LDR / Adam Burns
Mid Canterbury was reeling this time twelve months ago after a one-in-200 year flood battered the region.
The 29 and 30 May floods caused widespread damage to multiple farms in the Ashburton district, but urban areas did not go unscathed.
The closure of Ashburton's 90-year-old bridge along State Highway 1 also presented a logistical nightmare for supply chains and emergency services at the time.
Hinds man Damian Perriton was grateful to still have a job and a business.
But as the historic rain event bore down on on his home and workshop, he felt at the time his future was precariously placed.
Forced to flee his property through car bonnet-high floodwaters, he returned home the next day to disarray.
"You literally feel like you're walking into a warzone, just into your own house," he said.
"It's just the personal side of things ... it feels like it's invaded everything you own."
The challenges for Perriton continued in the following weeks, which he admitted took a toll on his mental health.
Wellbeing support needed greater priority in future, he said.
"Everyone's gone 'they're okay, they're fine' and forgotten about us (the community).
"I think there needs to be more follow ups later on. It's very easy to forget very quickly if you're not affected."
The week of the floods wreaked havoc, particularly south of Ashburton.
File photo: Last year's floods left the bridge across Ashburton River at Pudding Hill severely damaged. Photo: RNZ / Conan Young
The SH1 bridge suffered foundational damage forcing its temporary closure, two days after a state of emergency was declared in the district.
Underlining the need for improvements to the town's infrastructure, Ashburton District Mayor Neil Brown said the bridge closure presented further logistical headaches for the small town of Tinwald.
"There's no fire engines [in Tinwald] if there was a fire over there," he said.
"There's no doctors over there and there's no pharmacy over there.
"It would've been a real challenge, if there had been a medical event, to see that someone wasn't seriously hurt."
Plans for a second bridge in Ashburton are continuing to take shape after many years of community calls for an additional overpass.
The Ashburton District Council is nearing the end of its business case proposal for Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and community leaders believe the government need to subsidise the project.
Councillor Carolyn Cameron said the floods highlighted an urgent need.
"I'd be very disappointed and I think it would be short-sighted of the government of the day to not prioritise the Ashburton bridge," she said.
"Given there's no other near alternative for people to cross and to move up and down the South Island."
Neil Brown told Morning Report it was looking positive following discussions with Minister of Finance Grant Robertson last week.
