Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Storm Aftermath

Yesterday it rained all day.  That gentle rain that's so good for your garden and I was quite happy with it, as Blenheim can be on the dry side most of the time.

Then last night as I was watching the Olympics, I suddenly realised I couldn't hear the television as the rain had become so loud, and then I noticed my house shaking in the wind and I realised that a storm had developed outside.

I simply turned up the heat and ignored it.

I woke today to find everything a little sodden, and noticed that their were warnings in place where roads were closed!  At 4pm I decided to venture out with my camera to see for myself!  This is what I found...

You know that little ford that is always dry on Old Renwick Road?  That's the Omaka River which is completely dry 99.9% of the time.  When it's not dry, there's a little trickle of water.  I guess this is what happens when it rains heavily...



Highfield Winery - the vines were flooded.   And the road was closed.  The little one way bridges were on Dog Point Road were nearly underwater as well.



Here's the Omaka River in full flood.  At this point a motorist stopped me and said that I had the wrong equipment.  It was a Kayak I needed, not a camera!  Yeah right!




I then drove into town to take a look at the Taylor River by Raupo Cafe.  I've seen floods up here before in my 2.5 years I've been in Marlborough, but this is the highest I've seen it yet.  The little foot bridge is almost submerged.



And be very careful - it's very slippery down there when it's frosty!



No walking the dog along the pathways beside the river today...


And everywhere there were danger keep out signs!


There were a number of photographers about, and I got talking to one of them.  He told me the little footbridge is designed to float of it's foundations if the current of the river gets too great.  Then once the river goes down, a digger goes in and pops it back up again.  Interesting!


Despite the cold wind and rainy conditions, some hardy soul was still enjoying his pizza on the steps, while watching the water levels rise!


On the way home I stopped at the point where the river sometimes breaks its banks and flows over the road.

Guess a picnic on the picnic table is out of the question!





Apparently this isn't the worst Blenheim has had.  The Taylor Dam stops the Taylor River from getting really bad.  Although the Wairau breaks its banks every 20 years or so - the last time in 1983.

More rain is expected tonight!  I wonder what tomorrow will bring!

7 comments:

Luke Power said...

I love reading your blog and you take some awesome photographs.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Luke - glad you enjoy them :)

Morgan said...

Wow, what is up with the weather? Even the central city in Auckland had some flooding this year for the first time I can remember. Interesting photos.

Anonymous said...

Being in a valley surrounded by mountains on three sides, the rivers in Blenheim flood frequently. The river where the little bridge is submerged floods at least twice a year.

The huge Wairau river though, only floods once every 20 years, and the last time it broke its banks was in 1983.

However, I'm new to it having only lived here for 2.5 years, so it's fascinating to me :)

Alana Hawkes said...

Hi Robyn....neat photos! We met at Michael Hill the other day but sadly the piece of paper with your email address on fell out of my pocket! I have Wednesday off this week if you wanted me to come around with some albums? Alana Hawkes

Anonymous said...

thought you might be interested in this article that shows Tua Marina and Blenheim with their worst flood that flooded the town

http://www.theprow.org.nz/flooding-on-the-wairau-plain/

Robyn said...

thanks for that - that was a really interesting article :) I hope we don't get that sort of flooding again!