Flash floods wreak havoc on West Coast towns

Two days of torrential rain on the West Coast have caused widespread surface flooding, slips and evacuation.

Greymouth was hit last night with 150mm of rain in two hours, its biggest downpour in a decade.

The flash flood overwhelmed the town’s drainage system and left the Greymouth Mayor Tony Kokshoorn astonished.

“Mother Nature struck back with a vengeance and the whole heavens opened up on us,” Mr Kokshoorn says.

The flooding surprised even the locals, with pensioner Des Heslip caught off guard in her home.

“We looked out the window and the next thing, within two or three seconds, up she comes, right through the house - through the walls and everywhere.”

Mr Heslip was one of 11 pensioners evacuated by the fire brigade after water rushed through their flats.

The water that washed off the hills even swept through Greymouth’s landmark pub, Revingtons.

Proprietor Therese Gibbens said staff did not notice the flood until it had already engulfed the kitchen.

“It wasn’t until it reached the point in the kitchen where the staff were working, that they realised water was even coming," she says. "It came with a hell of a rush right through the building.”