Christchurch residents still cleaning up after last week's one-in-100-year flood are preparing once more for their homes to be inundated.
Wild weather from cyclone Lusi is due to pound the South Island city with heavy rain and high winds on Sunday and plans are in place to try to prevent a repeat of the flooding that left 50 homes badly damaged on 4 March.
The central city was flooded on 4 March. Photo: SUPPLIED
The doors on Diane Shannon's car were open all day on Friday as she tried to dry out the seats from the soaking they received.
Ms Shannon is still waiting to replace the carpet after water got into her front bedroom and can't believe this could happen again this weekend. However, she's glad the council has learned its lesson and is now providing sandbags this time around.
Diane Shannon says she's getting used to getting ready for severe floods and is taking other precautions such as putting her clothes into plastic containers and getting towels ready to jam under doors.
Down the street, Kristal Thompson is in the process of moving out of her flood-damaged home and says the sandbags are too little, too late. She and her three children are now homeless and staying at a friend's place until their insurance company comes through with alternative accommodation.
Civil Defence manager Murray Sinclair says they plan to have 22,000 sandbags in place in flood-prone areas of the city by midday on Saturday.
However, he says sandbags will only hold back small amounts of water and people should be prepared for more flooding.
Welfare centres
Welfare centres will be set up at schools in South New Brighton, Woolston and Mairehau. Emergency services are on stand-by.
