Three townships near Christchurch declared states of emergency respectively on Sunday after being badly hit by overnight downpours and floods in the south island of New Zealand.
The three townships - Ashburton, Timaru, and Selwyn - declared states of emergency as downpours have been piling up in the Canterbury region, causing flooding, bursting river banks and cutting off roads.
Ashburton is preparing for mass evacuations as the Ashburton River rises and heavy rain continues to fall.
At a press conference on Sunday afternoon, Mayor Neil Brown of Ashburton said around 3,000 houses were at risk and up to 4,000 residents would be evacuated if the river's stopbanks break.
At least three welfare centers have been set up in the region in case they are needed. The state of emergency for the Ashburton District has been declared for seven days.
Selwyn Civil Defence was going door-to-door this afternoon requesting residents to "evacuate now" as flooding of the Selwyn River was expected to cut off access to outside communities. More than 1,000 homes are now also without power across Christchurch, the biggest city of Canterbury region.
New Zealand Acting Minister for Emergency Management Kris Faafoi warned that heavy rain was set to continue overnight and into Monday and water levels were likely to rise.
MetService NZ still maintains red-alert severe weather warning for Canterbury region, saying weather "will get worse before they get better."
The official weather forecaster issued its second-ever red warning to the region, estimated that some areas are expecting to receive up to three months worth of rain in three days, which would make it the most significant rainfall in a decade.
According to MetService, red warnings are "issued for the most extreme weather systems which may cause widespread disruption and severe impacts." ■
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