A strong sense of community after Selwyn’s recent rain event
Selwyn District Council media release: 14th May 2025
While the heavy rain has stopped and the river levels have receded, the work and efforts of the Selwyn community, the Council, volunteers and roading contractors continues to happen across the district, following the state of emergency declared on Thursday 1st May.
Selwyn Civil Defence Recovery Manager Jessica Petersen says the focus over the coming weeks will be assisting people in flood-damaged homes and helping those people, farms and businesses that have been affected with their recovery.
“As the clean-up continues over the next few weeks, it’s worth checking in with your neighbour and finding out if they need any help and support. We’ve heard lots of heartwarming stories about how the community supported each other throughout this event and we want to encourage the Selwyn community to continue offering support to those around them, as we move through this recovery phase.”
Selwyn Mayor Sam Broughton says he is proud of the work our emergency volunteers put into the response and the way the community came together to support one another.
“Our emergency management and volunteer teams have done a fantastic job throughout the response and continue to support our communities. Selwyn is a resilient district and this event has reinforced the importance of community, having people around you that you know well, that you can rely on. We can build community resilience one friendly neighbourhood conversation at a time.”
Getting welfare and wellness support to the affected
During the response, our community volunteers really pulled together, putting in a total of 400 hours, doing welfare checks and needs assessments and providing support to the areas that needed it the most.
The Council’s welfare teams carried out 41 assessments in response to requests from residents. Of these, two homes were confirmed as flooded, 10 properties experienced flooding, and 11 households self-evacuated. These figures are based on reports received by the Council.
We are assisting people with navigating insurance claims and providing guidance on a range of flood-related issues, including septic tanks, bores, clean-up safety, sandbag disposal, and relocating stock to safe areas.
Our welfare team is working alongside our community partners to ensure everyone has access to the help they need. We are working closely with Te Taumutu Rūnanga and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, with the support of Te Puni Kōkiri to make sure whānau in Taumutuare well supported.
Flooding can be incredibly stressful and it’s normal to still feel stressed even weeks after the event. If you need someone to talk to, you can call or text 1737 any time or call Healthline on 0800 611116.
If you have any questions or need any information from the Council, please call 0800 SELWYN and we can get you in touch with the right team.
Restoring water supplies in the district
Five water supplies in the district were affected during the event. All conserve water notices have now been lifted.
Get the latest water notices for the Selwyn District.
Impacts on Selwyn roads
During the event, more than 1,200 road-related issues were recorded in our event tracker. At the peak of the event, 32 roads were closed or restricted due to flooding. Currently, 30 roads remain either closed or restricted as repair and recovery work continues.
We are actively assessing the impacts on our roading network, and the cost of repairs is currently estimated at approximately $4m.
Find the latest map and information on local road closures.
Please follow all temporary caution and road works signage, as our contractors are working on the roads.
Effects on houses in Selwyn
The Council’s building team has completed rapid building assessments of 49 homes across the district. 41 of those have no restrictions on use, while 8 have restricted access.
Restricted access typically indicates moderate damage, and entry may be limited to supervised visits, short durations, or essential purposes only.