State of emergency declared in South Island after severe downpour that washed away bridge

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A woman has been found dead in New Zealand following a severe downpour that washed away a bridge and prompted a state of emergency in the South Island.

Police on Wednesday said the elderly woman’s body had washed up on a riverbank north of the town of Hokitika, in the West Coast region.

“It appears that the woman got out of the vehicle she was driving and tried to cross the flood waters on foot,” Senior Sergeant Peter Payne said.

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“She has then been swept away in the strong-flowing current of surface flooding on Arahura Valley Road. The investigation is ongoing, and her death will be referred to the coroner. Our thoughts are with the family at this sad time.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The once-in-a-century storm saw rainfall of more than 800mm in some areas. Photograph: Wayne Costello/DOC

A storm battering the region saw the Waiho Bridge, near the town of Franz Josef, destroyed by a torrential river on Tuesday night.

Meteorologists have described the event as significant, even by the area’s rainy standards, with some parts struck by more than 800mm of rain in a once-in-a-century downpour.

About 50 tourists spent the night in a welfare centre set up in a town hall in the tiny, remote town of Haast.

Dozens of homes and businesses in the region were affected by flooding, which also closed about 300 kilometres of highway, with aerial photos showing a bridge chunks of the roads being swept away.