WARWICK SMITH/Things
Angela Dobby at her soaked property in Punga St next to Tangimoana School, where the playing field is flooded.
Camaraderie gets through the soggy community of Tangimoana, but frustrations mount with the floodwaters.
The school grounds and at least five households in the coastal town were flooded on Wednesday.
Due to a high water table and prolonged rainfall, a drain that is filled to capacity backs up and spills water into adjacent properties.
Residents took turns pumping water from the Tangimoana School field and the affected properties.
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WARWICK SMITH/Things
John Brown says inadequate drainage causes rainwater to flow onto his property and under his home.
Punga St resident John Brown said he and his neighbors had been pumping water for 24 hours.
“We got up every four hours to check the water level, and we took turns pumping the water down a drain.”
Manawatū County Council and Horizons Regional Council had supplied pumps and sandbags, but had yet to provide long-term relief.
“While district council staff say the water comes from a drain run by the regional council, the regional council blames the district council for not clearing the water from the road,” Brown said.
“Every time new people from the district council and the district council visit us. They know nothing about the village’s long-standing flooding problems, and we continue to suffer.”
The sewage problems resemble those of flooded Longburn woman Julie Cunninghame, who told Wednesday: stuff she had spent years trying to get action from one of the three councils to replace an unsuitable diver.
Punga St resident and parent AngelaDobby always keeps her rubber boots by her bed.
Her property was flooded for the third time in a month on Wednesday. She woke up to find that her garage had been flooded.
“One of my children goes to school, so flooding in the school is a major concern for us. I am grateful to the community for helping us pump water out of the property.”
WARWICK SMITH/Things
The grounds of the Tangimoana School after persistent rain showers.
Horizons Regional Council has apologized to the community and said it would ensure more frequent sewer checks.
Area engineer Wayne Spencer said it was clearing a drain near Ellison Reserve in the village that caused the flooding problems this time around.
“Even a rainwater drain behind the school cannot flow into the drain because it is already full, so the surface water cannot flow away there either.
“We started clearing the vegetation as soon as possible to hold more water. Unfortunately, due to staff changes, this eviction has not happened as regularly as it could have happened.”
WARWICK SMITH/Things
The Tangimoana community is desperate for relief from the regular heavy rains.
Ben Caldwell, communications manager for Manawatū County Council, said it was difficult to mitigate the effects of flooding due to the village’s location and the topography of the land.
The recent flooding was the result of a land current that passed over farmland, through the school grounds and over Punga St, the natural flow of water.
“In 2019, the municipality installed a new pump and started a drainage upgrade [including those of culverts and subsoil] between Kuku and Paua St. We also operate a gas station at the end of Aru Street.”
The district council has an annual budget of $500,000 to upgrade stormwater systems in all villages in the district.