Hazards in your District

Earthquake
Earthquakes can affect all or part of the district and cause disruption to power, telephone services, public utilities and transportation. There are many known earthquake faults in and near Hurunui that can cause damaging earthquakes including the Alpine, Awatere, Clarence and Hope faults in the northwest of the district, the offshore Hikurangi subduction zone and numerous smaller faults. We have experienced damaging earthquakes in 1888, 1901, 1922, 1951 and 2016. If a major earthquake was to strike the district, access to many of the communities could be restricted due to landslides and road damage. For more information on earthquakes, visit Environment Canterbury and Canterbury CDEM websites, GeoNet Project and AF8.
Fire
The Hurunui District is climatically dry and hot during the summer periods. There is also a large number of privately owned exotic forests spread throughout the District. Native tussock and snowgrass cover the hill and high country and marrum grass and coastal tussock are found along the east coast of the District. There are extensive areas of indigenous forests throughout the District but more-so in the State Forest areas to the west.
Burning off as a management tool is carried out regularly by farmers in the hill and high country. The burning of slash as a result of land-clearing in the exotic forest areas takes place occasionally.
Hanmer Springs Township extends up to the boundary of Carter Holt Harvey Forest and there is a direct threat to the safety of residents and property should a major fire breakout in this area.
Any major fire in the District can threaten the public and cause the loss of lives and may cause damage to public utilities, disrupt power and communication services
Flooding
While the major rivers in the District are generally well contained there is a potential for erosion damage which could threaten some populated areas and cause severe surface flooding.
- The South Kowai and North Kowai River confluence occurs approximately 200 metres upstream from the State Highway One Bridge at Leithfield.
- The Leithfield Township can be affected by these rivers as can State Highway One.
- Flooding has also affected the beach settlement areas of Amberley, Leithfield and Motunau. An evacuation of residents from the Amberley Beach settlement as a result of flooding occurred in December 1992.
- The Jed and Leader rivers have flooded on several occasions and caused problems in the Cheviot and Parnassus areas.
- Flooding of the Waiau and the Hurunui Rivers, which have their origins in the Southern Alps occur at regular intervals.
Heavy Snowfalls
Most of the District can be subjected to snowstorms during winter months. While these may cause disruptions to farming, telephones, power supply, road and rail services and the isolation of townships, there is seldom any real risk to human life, apart from the need to rescue people stranded in motor cars or in isolated back country areas.
A heavy snowstorm would have the potential for isolation of communities and farms and economic disaster.
An Adverse Events Plan has been produced for the District and a copy of this is attached as an appendix to this Plan.

Storms
New Zealand is particularly prone to storms as it lies in the 'Roaring Forties', where mild-temperature air from the north meets cooler air from the south. Hazards include loss of power and communications, falling trees and poles, fast-flowing currents in streams and rivers, snowstorms, landslips and flooding. Most of the district can be subject to heavy snowfalls during the winter months. Cyclonic storms and very high winds can also be experience throughout the District. Coastal areas in the District are of a limestone formation and erosion of the cliff faces is common. The cliffs at Motunau Beach are now recognised as a hazard zone.
Man-Made - Including Industrial Explosion
The storage of liquid fuels throughout the District poses a threat. Several commercial garages have bulk storage L P G tanks installed in urban zones.
Hazardous substances such as fossil fuels, bulk L P G , bulk resins and dangerous goods are stored and transported through the District by road and rail. Accidents with these substances have occurred over the years.
Tsunami
Tsunamis can be created close to our coastline, in the Pacific Islands or across the Pacific Ocean and pose a threat to the low-lying coastal areas of the district.
You can see if you are in a tsunami evacuation zone on the Canterbury CDEM Group website . You can search for an address or place in the top right-hand corner of the map.
You should evacuate the red and orange tsunami evacuation zones if you feel a long (more than a minute) or strong (hard to stand up) earthquake. Do not wait for an official warning, sirens or an emergency mobile alert. A tsunami could be coming from close to our shore and there will not be time for an official warning.
If a tsunami is coming from the Pacific Islands or from across the Pacific Ocean there will be time to issue an official warning through radio, TV, emergency mobile alerts and sirens (in Leithfield Beach and Amberley Beach).
You can find more information on tsunami hazards, evacuations and warnings on the Environment Canterbury website, including tsunami inundation modelling reports and evacuation zone reports for Hurunui.
Useful links:
https://www.ecan.govt.nz/your-region/your-environment/natural-hazards/earthquakes/.
https://www.ecan.govt.nz/your-region/your-environment/natural-hazards/tsunamis/
Coastal Erosion
Most of the coastal areas of the District are of a limestone formation and erosion of the cliff faces is common. The cliffs at Motunau Beach are now recognised as a hazard zone.