NZ Historic Weather Events Catalogue
June 1977 Gisborne Flooding ( 1977-06-20 )
A Civil Defence Emergency was declared in Gisborne after heavy rain caused extensive flooding and slips.
Gisborne
Multi Hazard
at
Gisborne
Duration: 2 days - There was heavy rain and flooding on the 20th to the 21st of June.
There was widespread flooding and landslips.
Flooding
Turihaua Bridge approaches were washed out.
About 1000 people passed through the evacuation centre.
Heavy Rain
at
Gisborne City
Gisborne recorded 156 mm (15.6 cm)of rain in 24 hours.
Gisborne recorded 217.9 mm (21.79 cm) of rain in two days.
Flooding
A Civil Defence Emergency was declared on the 21st to 9am on the 22nd of June.
Water swept into many homes. People had water up to 2 metres deep in their homes. Single storey house was totally flooded by the Waimata River.
All schools were closed.
Flooding occurred on Crawford Road where the Kopuawhakapata Stream had become a torrent. It spread out to surround dozens of houses in a lake that was up to window height in lower-lying properties.
Wainui Road became a river.
Flood damage to roads was extensive.
Claims from city households were estimated to exceed $100,000 ($637,200 2010 dollars).
Houses were flooded in the Graham Road and Marian Drive area along with Fergusson Drive. Houses the length of Fergusson Drive on the river side, were all affected by flooding in some way.
Waimata River spread over low-lying land and all other rivers and streams were overflowing.
Over 15 houses were evacuated on Fergusson Drive.
Sewage was flowing into city rivers as the sewerage system was disrupted by flood damage which put five suburban pump stations out of action. Reynolds Creek was taking the overflow from the Te Hapara pump station which services about 4500 people. Some people had a backflow of sewerage in their toilets and there were particulaly bad overflows in Blackpool Street and Manuka Street backyards.
Schools were closed in the suburb of Kaiti. Kaiti Primary school was closed for week and was under four metres of water at one stage.
Landslide
Dozens of houses on the hills of Whataupoko and Kaiti suffered from earth movements. One house of Stafford Street was badly smashed and had to be evacuated. Two houses in Russell Street, two in Riverside Road, one in Sievwright Terrace and one in Belbium Terrace also had slips down to the buildings. Along Kaiti Beach Road a landslip destroyed one house and 10 permanent residents from there were evacuated.
Landslide
at
Makorori
Eight families in Makorori township were evacuated by the Jet Rescue Squad using trucks when the 45 homes in the beach resort were threatened by hillside slips
A holiday bach was toppled and three other houses slipped off their foundations.
Tonnes of silt, debris and some trees from the hill slop overlooking the beach slithered down amid torrents of water.
The township road was covered in silt and debris.
Up to 12 houses and baches at Makorori settlement were either total wrecks or suffered damage. Houses were smashed and undermined by slips and surface water.
The road at Tatapouri Hill was impassable on due to a major slip.
Flooding
Many families in low-lying areas of the Whangara district were forced to evacuate. Terrific debris, miles of fences were swept away, heavy silting and landslides were reported in the area. The worst flooding was where the Waimoko River and Wairoa Stream met.
Heavy Rain
at
Wainui
Wainui recorded 234 mm (23.4 cm) of rain in two days.
Hawke's Bay
Flooding
at
Hawke's Bay
The East Coast Railway line was blocked by several slips and washouts on the 21st June.
Telephone circuits between Wairoa and Tuai were cut for two hours.
Flooding
at
Mahia
On the 21st June there was a flood in Mahia and the roadways were underwater.
References
- Civil Defence Declarations since 1 January 1963
- Major weather events in New Zealand, FLOODS AND HIGH RAINFALL, Floods to 30 Sep 2005
- Meteorological Observations for 1977, Stations in New Zealand and Outlying Islands, and stations in Cook Islands, Kingdon of Tonga, Western Samoa, Tokelau, Tuvalu, Gilbert Islands and Niue Islands. New Zealand Meteorological Service.
- Headline: Disaster city reels as gale whips up flooding.
- The Gisborne Herald, 21 June 1977.
- Headline: Threatened Beach Homes Evacuated.
- The Gisborne Herald, 21 June 1977.
- Headline: Came The Rains…
- The Gisborne Herald, 22 June 1977.
- Headline: Emergency over - now to count up the cost…
- The Gisborne Herald, 22 June 1977.
- Headline: Heart-breaking job in area of mud, misery.
- The Gisborne Herald, 22 June 1977.
- Headline: Kaiti school closed for week.
- The Gisborne Herald, 22 June 1977.
- Headline: Mahia waits and hopes.
- The Gisborne Herald, 22 June 1977.
- Headline: Uneasy night on river.
- The Gisborne Herald, 22 June 1977.
- Headline: Whangara families evacuate.
- The Gisborne Herald, 22 June 1977.
- Headline: Beach house 'virtually destroyed' by landslip.
- The Gisborne Herald, 23 June 1977.
- Headline: Sewage in rivers as floods close pumping stations.
- The Gisborne Herald, 23 June 1977.
June 1977 Gisborne Flooding ( 1977-06-20 )
A Civil Defence Emergency was declared in Gisborne after heavy rain caused extensive flooding and slips.
Gisborne
Multi Hazard
at
Gisborne
Duration: 2 days - There was heavy rain and flooding on the 20th to the 21st of June.
There was widespread flooding and landslips.
Flooding
Turihaua Bridge approaches were washed out.
About 1000 people passed through the evacuation centre.
Heavy Rain
at
Gisborne City
Gisborne recorded 156 mm (15.6 cm)of rain in 24 hours.
Gisborne recorded 217.9 mm (21.79 cm) of rain in two days.
Flooding
A Civil Defence Emergency was declared on the 21st to 9am on the 22nd of June.
Water swept into many homes. People had water up to 2 metres deep in their homes. Single storey house was totally flooded by the Waimata River.
All schools were closed.
Flooding occurred on Crawford Road where the Kopuawhakapata Stream had become a torrent. It spread out to surround dozens of houses in a lake that was up to window height in lower-lying properties.
Wainui Road became a river.
Flood damage to roads was extensive.
Claims from city households were estimated to exceed $100,000 ($637,200 2010 dollars).
Houses were flooded in the Graham Road and Marian Drive area along with Fergusson Drive. Houses the length of Fergusson Drive on the river side, were all affected by flooding in some way.
Waimata River spread over low-lying land and all other rivers and streams were overflowing.
Over 15 houses were evacuated on Fergusson Drive.
Sewage was flowing into city rivers as the sewerage system was disrupted by flood damage which put five suburban pump stations out of action. Reynolds Creek was taking the overflow from the Te Hapara pump station which services about 4500 people. Some people had a backflow of sewerage in their toilets and there were particulaly bad overflows in Blackpool Street and Manuka Street backyards.
Schools were closed in the suburb of Kaiti. Kaiti Primary school was closed for week and was under four metres of water at one stage.
Landslide
Dozens of houses on the hills of Whataupoko and Kaiti suffered from earth movements. One house of Stafford Street was badly smashed and had to be evacuated. Two houses in Russell Street, two in Riverside Road, one in Sievwright Terrace and one in Belbium Terrace also had slips down to the buildings. Along Kaiti Beach Road a landslip destroyed one house and 10 permanent residents from there were evacuated.
Landslide
at
Makorori
Eight families in Makorori township were evacuated by the Jet Rescue Squad using trucks when the 45 homes in the beach resort were threatened by hillside slips
A holiday bach was toppled and three other houses slipped off their foundations.
Tonnes of silt, debris and some trees from the hill slop overlooking the beach slithered down amid torrents of water.
The township road was covered in silt and debris.
Up to 12 houses and baches at Makorori settlement were either total wrecks or suffered damage. Houses were smashed and undermined by slips and surface water.
The road at Tatapouri Hill was impassable on due to a major slip.
Flooding
Many families in low-lying areas of the Whangara district were forced to evacuate. Terrific debris, miles of fences were swept away, heavy silting and landslides were reported in the area. The worst flooding was where the Waimoko River and Wairoa Stream met.
Heavy Rain
at
Wainui
Wainui recorded 234 mm (23.4 cm) of rain in two days.
Hawke's Bay
Flooding
at
Hawke's Bay
The East Coast Railway line was blocked by several slips and washouts on the 21st June.
Telephone circuits between Wairoa and Tuai were cut for two hours.
Flooding
at
Mahia
On the 21st June there was a flood in Mahia and the roadways were underwater.
References
- Civil Defence Declarations since 1 January 1963
- Major weather events in New Zealand, FLOODS AND HIGH RAINFALL, Floods to 30 Sep 2005
- Meteorological Observations for 1977, Stations in New Zealand and Outlying Islands, and stations in Cook Islands, Kingdon of Tonga, Western Samoa, Tokelau, Tuvalu, Gilbert Islands and Niue Islands. New Zealand Meteorological Service.
- Headline: Disaster city reels as gale whips up flooding.
- The Gisborne Herald, 21 June 1977.
- Headline: Threatened Beach Homes Evacuated.
- The Gisborne Herald, 21 June 1977.
- Headline: Came The Rains…
- The Gisborne Herald, 22 June 1977.
- Headline: Emergency over - now to count up the cost…
- The Gisborne Herald, 22 June 1977.
- Headline: Heart-breaking job in area of mud, misery.
- The Gisborne Herald, 22 June 1977.
- Headline: Kaiti school closed for week.
- The Gisborne Herald, 22 June 1977.
- Headline: Mahia waits and hopes.
- The Gisborne Herald, 22 June 1977.
- Headline: Uneasy night on river.
- The Gisborne Herald, 22 June 1977.
- Headline: Whangara families evacuate.
- The Gisborne Herald, 22 June 1977.
- Headline: Beach house 'virtually destroyed' by landslip.
- The Gisborne Herald, 23 June 1977.
- Headline: Sewage in rivers as floods close pumping stations.
- The Gisborne Herald, 23 June 1977.