[Anglican Taonga] Anglican clergy in Ashburton, Geraldine and Temuka have stepped up to support their communities in rural Canterbury, New Zealand, as multiple rivers burst their banks and caused widespread flooding across the region on May 30, resulting in road and bridge closures.

With rivers in flood last Saturday night, churches in Geraldine, Temuka and Pleasant Point made the decision to close their doors on Sunday as rising water levels threatened to strand parishioners. Most churches in rural Canterbury’s flood zone have fared well in the weekend’s deluge, although to date no flood impact reports have come in from Te Pīhopatanga o Te Waipounamu.

Archdeacon of Mid-Canterbury the Ven. Joan Clark reports that while Anglican church buildings in the district look to be undamaged, farming parishioners at Rakaia, Methven, Mayfield-Mount Somers, Hinds and Ashburton parishes will now face hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage to farm infrastructure and winter baleage, as well as lost income from milk dumped due to road closures.

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