Hundreds of South Cantabrians made the trek out to Pleasant Point at the weekend to view a display marking the 40th anniversary of one of the region’s most devastating floods.
Overnight on March 12, 1986 between 150mm-200mm of intense rain fell, causing rivers to rise rapidly and homes, farmland and infrastructure around the region to become inundated.
Pleasant Point was one of the most heavily impacted areas and on Saturday a commemoration event was held at the Pleasant Point town hall.
The event featured a photo display in the hall and an emergency vehicle display outside in Halstead Rd.
Point Flood 40 organising chairman and former volunteer firefighter John Cross said the event had exceeded all expectations.
‘‘It wouldn’t have been possible without the small group of about eight or nine people that I had around me, putting their heart and soul into contributing.
‘‘The committee was absolutely fantastic and we were incredibly lucky to have had the Eric Feasey collection of photos that went around the wall that Heather Fifield collected and got into the school archives.’’
He said he was also very impressed with the response from local primary school pupils when they held a special session for them.
‘‘They came in on Friday and myself and Geoff Smith, who was a police cop, were telling them some stories about the rescues that were involved.
‘‘They were absolutely fascinated with that. When it came to question time, we just got bombarded with questions.
‘‘One wee boy or girl said ‘my dad was only 3 when the flood happened and my mum was only 1’, so their grandparents must have told them all about their experiences and that was something that struck me quite a lot.’’
He was very thankful to Fire and Emergency New Zealand and Hato Hone St John for supplying vehicles and hoped those who attended walked away having learnt more about the flood and the advancements made over the last 40 years to ensure that South Canterbury would be much better prepared if something similar ever happened again.
