Hundreds of Canterbury residents, including the entire town of Springfield in the Selwyn district, have been evacuated from their homes due to rising river levels.

Canterbury residents can text the name of most local rivers to 3730 to receive free and official flood updates and evacuation notices. They will need to ensure the name of the river is capitalized.

Evacuations
All residents in the low-lying areas of The Pines Beach, particularly around Dunns Ave, were instructed to “evacuate now” at 9.30am Monday, Waimakiriri District Council said.