A Canterbury farmer has described how he and his tractor aided in the rescue of two people from a car trapped in "deep and swift" floodwaters near the Ashburton River.
The Canterbury region has been battered by a red-alert deluge causing widespread flooding forcing Timaru, Ashburton, and Selwyn to declare a state of emergency on Sunday.
Farmers in the region have had a busy weekend watching forecasts and moving stock to ensure they were safe from the storm.
Farmer David Clark says his Sunday started early with a call from a neighbour and good friend who lives on the other side of the Ashburton River.
"He was out checking stock and shifting stock at half-past-four this morning and a car went past his farm that he noticed and realised hadn't continued up the road. It had actually fallen in a hole."
The car had been washed into floodwaters. Clark's neighbour rang 111 which was followed by the call to Clark, telling him a large tractor was needed to aid rescue efforts.
Clark took his tractor out to the site of the incident in "pitch black" darkness and torrential rain, he says the tractor "fortunately" has "very very good" lighting.
On arrival, flooding blocked Clark from getting to Fire and Emergency as well as stopping firefighters from reaching the trapped car.
"I wasn't able to get to the fire brigade to pick up a fireman to get out to the car, so ended up having to cut the fence into the paddock and then took a tractor out through deep and swift floodwaters to get to the car, and parked in behind the car to stop it floating off down the water any further."
Clark says he then smashed the windows of the car, passing life jackets to the two occupants.
"Then we managed to get them out the back of the vehicle and up the steps up into the tractor and then got the tractor back out onto dry land again."
Clark says the occupants were wet, cold and "justifiably scared".
"They were in a very very vulnerable position. Their survival was entirely dependent on the help Fire and Emergency could bring to them."
He adds those in the vehicle had a legitimate reason to be out as one was catching a flight.
Clark says the accident highlights the dangers of driving during severe weather: "The water looked only two to three millimetres deep but what was hidden under that floodwater was a washed-out culvert that then suddenly left a big hole in the road, so once they fell in that they just got swept away."
"It was a very challenging ordeal that fortunately worked out well in the end but could have been a different outcome."
He says the pair are "incredibly lucky" his neighbour was able to spot them and raise the alarm.
"The people in the car sat tight, they also rang triple one, they sat tight, they did absolutely everything right that brought out a really good outcome all ways round. It could have been a tragedy."
MetService says conditions in the Canterbury region "will get worse before they get better".
The red-alert warning is set for Canterbury south of Amberly and is in place until 11am on Monday, according to MetService.
Between Sunday afternoon and Monday morning a further 70, 80 or 100mm of rain "may be possible" for low-lying parts of Canterbury and the Canterbury coastline, MetService meteorologist Angus Hines says.
"Inland a further 150 to 200mm could be experienced in the Canterbury high country and around the foothills.
"So we are expecting conditions to worsen through Sunday, rivers will continue to rise, more rivers may burst their banks, flooding is expected to get worse both inland and near the coast, several roads are already shut but more could be added to the list."
