As thousands of homes were at risk in New Zealand’s Canterbury due to flooding and heavy rainfall, the authorities of New Zealand on Sunday are preparing for mass evacuation and have also declared a state of emergency.

Kris Faafoi, Acting Minister of Emergency Management in a television briefing said, “Heavy rain is said to continue into Monday and this is only the second red warning issued by MetService and will be a significant weather event.”

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The New Zealand Meteorological Service has issued a rare “red” warning for the area, with up to 300 millimetres (11.8 inches) of rain expected to fall in inland areas.

Neil Brown, the mayor of Ashburton said, “there are around 35,000 people on New Zealand’s South Island and 4,000 people can be forced to evacuate if the Ashburton River breaks its bank.”

As the authorities could not afford to take chances state of emergency was declared in Canterbury, New Zealand, says Neville Reilly the controller of Canterbury Civil Defence emergency management group.

Canterbury Civil Defence emergency management group controller Neville Reilly told the New Zealand Herald that the state of emergency was declared because authorities could not afford to take chances.

 He said, “There’s a lot of contingency planning going on so that if something untoward should happen we are in a position to get people out and give them somewhere to go.”

 He further added, “Really we’re just holding our breath overnight.”