The fallout from recent heavy rain in Mid Canterbury could land in the vicinity of $150,000. Around 150mm of rain fell in the district over two days, causing surface flooding issues.

On the local roads, Ashburton District Council Infrastructure and Open Spaces General Manager, Neil McCann, says the early estimate to repair the damage is $100,000-$150,000.

“The roading team and our maintenance contractor HEB photographed about 350 locations and there was extensive surface flooding.

“We will inspect the road fully once all the water has drained away to gauge the full condition, however, this was not a large-scale event for us.”

The money to cover the repairs will come out of the operational budgets, he says.

“We have a minor events budget for this type of work. The three sunshine bridges, which are more like fords, on the Hinds River will have to be re-instated and a grader will tidy up Hakatere Potts Road where there are quite a lot of potholes.

“The grader will also go around the network tidying up the potholes on the unsealed roads.

NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi has several pothole repair sites on the state highway network under temporary 30kph speed limits.

“We’ll have to reinstate all the stock water intakes that are on rivers and streams, including Pudding Hill and Methven Auxiliary, but no other services have been impacted.”