There was flooding of streets and low-lying residential areas near the Basin Reserve.

On Adelaide Road, there was five houses invaded to depths of 2 ft (0.61 m).

Local flooding occurred in the business part of the city.

The flooding at Basin Reserve was over 2 ft (0.61 m) deep in places.

There was a 30 minute holdup of the tramway service before the flood quickly subsided.

There was widespread damage and there was extensive damage to roads and bridges, dislocating traffic services. Several main highways and many other secondary roads were impassable.

Ashley, Kowai and Waiau rivers broke their banks. Heavy flooding developed to alarming proportions before midnight on the 20th.

Thousands of acres of farmlands were flooded and farmers had no opportunity to remove stock.

Hundreds of sheep and cattle drowned.

County roads throughout Canterbury suffered damage at a cost of £14,890 ($1,529,500 2009 dollars).

Main highways throughout Canterbury suffered damage at a cost of £14,995 ($1,540,300 2009 dollars).

In Kurow and Omarama areas, roads were blocked by washouts occurred where creeks overflowed.

Floods were probably the heaviest since those of 13 years ago.

Service cars from Nelson and Blenheim were prevented from getting to Christchurch.

Several station yards on the south railway line were badly flooded, with the most serious being Rakaia where work was interrupted.

The damage to roads was serious in many places in North Canterbury, probably the worst damage was near Cheviot.

Much grain was spoiled but damage was not as great as at first throught. The quantity of wheat actually destroyed by storm and washed away was only small proportion of the total crop.

On the 24th, the Main North Road was still impassable between Omihi, Cheviot and at Ashley Bridge.

Almost all railway lines in the province were scoured or washed out by the flood. Most train services had resumed by the 21st but the West Coast train service was delayed by a further slip near Kowai Bush station in the afternoon. By the evening the only lines not open were those to the West Coast and Southbridge.

Floods of North Canterbury rapidly subsided from early on the morning of the 21st.

North Canterbury bore the greater proportion of damage in the province.

There was scouring on many roads in South Canterbury and several culverts were washed away.

Several houses were flooded and abandoned.

Sheep drowned by flooding creeks at Wainui and were washed out to sea.

Roads were scoured out, and in places there were serious slips.

Fences suffered badly.

Creeks in three main gullies behind township rose greatly, in some cases by as much as 8 ft (2.44 m).

The creeks overflowed and flood waters surrounded many houses in the valley. The north end of town flooded and the main street and recreation ground were nearly 2 ft (0.61 m) under water. Four or five dwellings were flooded out.

The sea in the harbour was calm and no damage was done to boats.

Roads up the valleys were flooded, metal and screenings were washed away and deep ruts appeared.

Akaroa was cut off from Christchurch by the depth of water on the roads at Little River.

The most serious problem faced by the Railway Department was the disruption of the service southward at 9:00pm on the 20th. The approach of the bridge at Ashburton River was damaged and passengers had to be transferred between Ashburton and Tinwald in buses.

All through the Ashburton district and as far south as Orari, great sheets of water covered paddocks.

Storm water flooded the streets in Ashburton and many country roads were covered.

All low-lying areas were covered by storm water.

Ashley River rose 8 inches (0.2 m) per hour for a record peak flow at Rangiora.

Ashley River had a discharge of 60,000 cusecs (1699 cumecs) at Rangiora.

On the Main North Road, the Ashley River Bridge was destroyed with the sides piled high with wheat sheaves and the decking covered with silt. The north end came to abrupt end in mid-air and the approach to the northern side was completely washed away.

The river was almost back to normal by the 21st.

Few houses near the river were unaffected by the flood. One house had to be abandoned and rising waters completely covered part of road between Rangiora and Woodend.

50 men were marooned when they were surrounded by deep flood water at the Ashley relief camp between Saltwater Creek and Ashley River.

Ashley River broke its stopbanks in three places. It overflowed at many points from its exit from gorge down to the main road.

On south side of Ashley River, the Main North Road was covered to depth of up to 9 ft (2.74 m) for a considerable distance and half a mile north of Woodend a section of concrete highway disappeared, leaving yawning gap 15 ft (4.57 m) deep.

Stock losses were very heavy.

Low-lying areas north of Ashley River suffered heavily.

Concrete culverts on the Main North Road were smashed and tossed aside.

There was exceptionally heavy rain all over Banks Peninsula.

Streams swelled rapidly and flooded valleys.

There was as much as £3000 ($308,000 2009 dollars) worth of damage to Banks Peninsula cocksfoot crop.

The peas suffered and the damp caused rot in the potato crops.

There was damage to the cocksfoot crop. One grower estimated that half of his crop had been knocked out and others suffered severely also.

The low-lying part of road at Bankside was impassable.

Camping Gully ford was scoured badly and impassable.

On the Cheviot railway line, there were two washouts near Mina and one near Tormore.

Cheviot was cut off from the north and south by roads badly scoured out and impassable.

No road traffic could get farther north than Motunau due to three damaged bridges between there and Cheviot. Friday's Cutting and Foster's Cutting had piles swept away and both approaches to the bridge at Greta Paddock were lost.

A young man was on his way across Royal Stream, 13 miles north of Cheviot, with a horse and trap. He was swept downstream for 300 yards, then stranded on an island for some time before being rescued on the 20th.

People in Avonside and parts of St. Albans waded knee-deep to and from their homes. Roads were awash with as much as one foot (0.30 m) of water.

Avon River overflowed its banks which it had not done for years.

In one part of Avonside, the Avon River completely blocked Avonside Drive for several chains.

People in Avonside Drive between the weir and Dallington Street, were practically marooned in their homes and the road was impassable for cars.

The end of Francis Avenue was like a lake and some residents were marooned in their homes.

In many streets great sheets of water were impassable for motorists.

At the corner of Moorhouse Avenue and along Colombo Street towards the city for some distance, the street was awash from side to side. There was similar flooding in the Square, Durham Street, Weltham Road, Nursery Road and many other parts of the city.

The only damage in the city was the potential damage to road surfaces through softening of lower strata.

Christchurch was almost cut off from road communication with the north and west.

Country children who went to school in the city were unable to return home. Twenty students of Christchurch Technical College, who came into city by train, had to find beds for the night in Christchurch.

Towards Coldstream there was widespread havoc. Debris was strewn over roads and some roads were impassable.

Gresson's Road was under water to depth of nearly 3 ft (0.61 m) on the 21st.

One farmer who had 103 sheep lost all but three.

On one farm water swept across 15 acres of potatoes, uprooting the crop. Only a small percentage of crop will be of any value. 12 acres of wheat were gone also.

Some farms in the district had fine crops of white clover destroyed.

A washout had occurred in the previous week where the road runs alongside Conway River and the river was hitting in fiercly again on the 20th.

Slips had occurred along the bluffs and two camps were under water (a bridge builders' camp and a Public Works Department camp).

One farmer's stock of wheat was washed away.

The Hororata bridge on the main highway between Darfield and Arundel had part of north approach washed away.

The Southbridge branch line was blocked by four washouts near Ellesmere.

Eyre River had a dicharge of 10,250 cusecs (290 cumecs) at the Diversion Bridge.

The Cust River had a discharge of 3000 cusecs (85 cumecs) at the Fernside Bridge.

Ashley River broke banks at Fernside, causing extensive flooding of several farms where houses had to be abandoned.

Much stock was marooned and there was heavy losses of sheep near Fernside.

The river broke its banks with startling suddenness and farmers had little time to rescue stock.

Two fernside families (approximately eight people) had to abandon their homes.

In the foothill districts behind Geraldine hundreds of acres of uncut wheat and oats were flattened by the rain. They sprouted fairly badly and much wheat that would have been first grade was only of second grade quality.

Hawkins River was running very high and prevented all traffic between Coalgate and Darfield.

Mount Pleasant Road had to be closed becaused it was so badly damaged.

In Macmillan Avenue, flood waters undermined the road and the surface collapsed.

A strange feature of the flood in the suburbs was the trouble in districts which aren't usually affected by flooding and comparative absence of flooding where it was most expected.

Hororata River was running from bank to bank.

Creeks overflowed and water was lying to depth of 6-8 in (0.15-0.2 m) in some places.

The main damage in Hororata county was the scouring of roads, especially near Hororata, Glenroy and Whitecliffs.

A number of small bridges and culverts were damaged.

The water level of the Hurunui River was level with the bridge.

At 1:00am on the 21st water from the overflow of Ashley River was running at high speed through three culverts on the railway embankment.

Near Kaikoura, Dip Creek caused great deal of trouble, and blocked the road. Such an extensive hold-up had not occurred there for 13 years.

The inland route from Kaikoura was impassable due to two rivers blocking the road.

Farmers said the heavy flooding of the Kowai River was the most serious in history.

The Kowai Bridge on the Main North Road withstood the deck-high torrent until late on the evening of the 20th when a central portion partially collapsed and the whole bridge buckled.

The upper Kowai Bridge on Lawcock's Road was swept away.

Settlers in Lees Valley were isolated. Access to and fro was impossible through the destruction of approaches of the two bridges. The north approach to the middle bridge on Ashley Gorge Road was damaged by flood waters.

The blacksmith's shop at Leeston had 6-9 in (0.15-0.23 m) of water in it.

Outside the Leithfield Hotel water was 4 ft (1.22 m) deep.

In a 12 mile (19 km) area between Leithfield and Woodend residents were cut off.

There was severe damage throughout the area.

Little River suffered the worst of the townships.

As early as 4:30pm on the 20th, there was water on most of the streets, by 9:00pm water was 3-4 ft (0.91-1.22 m) deep in many parts.

Water invaded the floor of grain store to depth of 4 in (10 cm) and also entered the dairy factory.

Most of this trouble was caused by the river coming over its banks behind the Maori pa.

Puaha was cut off from Little River and water was flowing over the bridges.

In the township, flood waters were higher than in 1923.

Houses on the flat below the township were flooded by overflowing of a stream.

A train from Methven derailed when crossing a flooded part of line just past Lauriston 2:30pm on the 21st. No serious damage resulted.

The main road between Methven and Lyndhurst was blocked.

Flooding at New Brighton was worst within the memory of most of the residents but caused more inconvenience than actual damage.

By early afternoon on the 20th, footpaths and roads were under water in all parts of borough and several intersections were covered inches deep.

Avon River was swollen but didn't reach the top of the banks. Most of the side-channels in the borough, because of exceptionally high tide, were submerged for a time and streets near the river on the northern side rapidly became flooded.

Several parts of North Brighton, where the land is slightly lower, were under water. Near the corner of Park Road and Longsdale Street water also covered a few lawns and gardens.

There were wide expanses of water near the racecourse.

In Bexley and towards Aranui where land is low-lying, whole paddocks were covered like lakes.

At Orari, a car swerved to avoid another and capsized in a flooded ditch 4 ft (1.22 m) deep.

Orari River was in very high flood throughout the 21st and overflowed its banks in places causing damage to surrounding farmland.

Waimakariri River had a discharge of 37,500 cusecs (1062 cumecs) at Otarama.

In Oxford, the Ashley River was running higher than it had for many years.

Creeks were overflowing, flooding paddocks and roads.

Water entered houses in low-lying areas to a depth of 2 ft (0.61 m) and occupants had to seek other shelter.

At the Ashley Gorge domain the bathers dressing sheds were washed adrift.

Every ford was washed out in Oxford County.

At Cooper's Creek a water-race flume was destroyed and the road scoured out. The damage was estimated at over £1000 ($102,700 2009 dollars).

Pahau River flooded and water was 3 ft (1.22 m) deep on parts of the road.

The main street was flooded to depth of several inches in places.

There were few buildings which didn't have some leaks in roofs.

Rangiora High School was dismissed in the middle of the morning and classes weren't continued for long at Rangiora District Primary School.

In various places the river had had to rise 4-7 ft (1.22-2.13 m) to run over the properties affected.

Some parts the current was so swift that it was impossible to get horses through to the marooned stock.

Ashley River broke its bank 30 chains (604 m) north of the upper Ashley Bridge from Ashley Street and the flood swept down through Coldstream towards the coast.

A large area of land was inundated and at least two homes were abandoned.

Rangiora County Council said damage to roads in the county would take almost a year to repair.

Crop damage was widespread. Many wheat crops washed off farms and approximately 25 acres (10 ha) of wheat disappeared under the flood. Pea crops, some cut, some growing, had been ruined. Approximately 90 percent of the large potato crop in Coldstream district was lost.

The damage to roads in Rangiora County was estimated at £5000 ($513,600 2009 dollars).

The rise of water was so rapid that it trapped several motorists, both on Main North Road and on the road between Rangiora and Loburn.

The total damage was roughly estimated at £50,000 ($5,136,000 2009 dollars) in Rangiora county alone.

The most serious break in the Ashley River was across farm properties between Rangiora and the Main North Road. Cows, pigs, sheep and fowls were lost.

Telephone communication was dislocated by the flood.

On north side of Rangiora one farmer had a 2 ft (0.61 m) high water mark at back door of his house. His garden was left a wilderness, there were dead pigs trapped in their stye by the sudden on rus and his fences were smashed and laid flat. The root crops were scoured out and against hedges debris was piled up to 3 ft (0.91 m) high.

The bridges north of Saltwater Creek were smashed.

Selwyn River was in high flood.

Selwyn River had a discharge of 8000 cusecs (227 cumecs) plus another 3000 cusecs (85 cumecs) overflowed at Selwyn Hutts.

The road to the West Coast was blocked at Springfield.

Near Sefton, railway communication was interrupted when heavy flood waters rushed through the railway yard and undermined the main line and tracks in the yard. There were other minor washouts between Sefton and Amberley.

Rivers and creeks were all running high.

There were heavy losses of wheat and oat crops.

Many paddocks were almost submerged and the quantity of surface water about was greater than at any period during the last seven or eight years.

Railway line between Rotherham and Waiau was washed out.

Nearly all roads about Waiau were washed out. The inland route to Kaikoura was blocked, Waiau-Mendip Hills Road was blocked, the road to Lyndon was impassable and the approach to Home Creek Bridge was washed away.

Waiau and Mason rivers were running bank high on the afternoon of the 20th and many creeks were overflowing.

The flooding of Waiau and Leader rivers brought water into several houses to depth of 6 in (0.15 m).

Waihi River was running high.

Wainui suffered nearly as severely as Akaroa.

The flood smashed down through Coldstream, over towards Woodend then across to Waikuku and devastated thousands of acres of farmland and crops.

It went into houses that no other floods had penetrated. Some houses were invaded to a depth of 5 ft (1.52 m).

There has never, within the memory of older residents, been such a disastrous flood at Waikuku.

Thousands of bushels of wheat were tossed against fences and across roads. Standing crops were ruined.

Sheep, pigs, cattle and fowls were overwhelmed in the torrent.

Flood waters began to subside at Waikuku at 4:00am on the 21st, but four hours later it was still knee-deep on the Main North Road.

Flood was considerably more severe than the flood of May 1923. In one part of Waikuku, the water level was 3 ft (0.91 m) higher than the flood of 13 years ago, which had been the heaviest since 1868.

On one farm that only suffered a small amount of damage in the flood of 1923, had damage to his farm estimated at £1000 ($102,700 2009 dollars).

Waikuku Wool Works Ltd. premises had damage estimated at £2000-£3000 ($205,000-$308,000 2009 dollars). There water to a depth of 9 ft (2.74 m) in one shed which was 3 ft (0.91 m) higher than the flood of 1923. Wool stocks and the main building was damaged.

Andrews Twine Company Ltd. suffered damage. The storage shed walls pushed out line due to the weight of debris of wheat and sheep carcasses.

Residents of three houses had to leave their homes because water rose to 4 ft (1.22 m) high. A majority of furnishings and personal belongings were badly damaged and silt covered the floors up to 6 in (0.15 m) deep. They got the full force of the flood.

One farmer lost 50 acres of wheat, another lost 12 acres of wheat, 20 acres of white clover and 20 acres of potatoes.

Ashley River had a peak discharge of 83,000 cusecs (2350 cumecs) at Waikuku on the 20th.

At Waikuku Beach many homes had water up to the mantlepiece.

Shortly before midday on the 21st, boats rescued marooned residents from the beach. One man almost drowned when the boat was upset and he was swept across the lagoon towards the sea.

The bridge over the lagoon collapsed under the pressure of the water.

A house and orchard on the south side of the Ashley River bridge were under 5 ft (1.52 m) of water and all the crops were covered with up to 2 ft (0.61 m) of silt.

Flood waters cut a channel over 50 yards (46 m) wide through sand dunes to the sea.

A small bridge through the domain was ruined and houses on south side of it were isolated.

The flood wrought havoc in a belt of country nine miles (14.5 km) wide.

Cars at the beach were badly damaged by mud.

The Main North Road was impassable from Woodend due to a gap in the road 20 ft (6.10 m) wide.

In North Otago crop damage was considerable, as conditions were more severe in the north of the province.

The only interference with tranport was on road north of Glenavy.

On Taieri Plains the standing crops were slightly damaged and crops in stock were completely soaked.