By Amanda Wells
June’s extreme snowfall provided challenges for parishes in inland Canterbury.
The Rev Chris Bedford of Ellesmere Cooperating Parish is shown in the photo surveying his street in Leeston, where 15cm of snow fell.
Chris says most people in Leeston didn’t lose power and many also have a secondary source of heating such as a wood or coal burner. There was greater concern about whether the thawing snow would cause subsequent flooding.
But the snow stayed on the ground for an “astonishing” two weeks, he says, and people are hopeful that the melt-water will replenish subterranean water levels depleted over summer. “We’ve gone from drought to bog.”
The Rev Shona Bettany of Mackenzie Cooperating Parish, who with her husband the Rev Phil Bettany is based in Fairlie, says half a metre of snow fell on their roof at home in about 12 hours. “It just came down and the power went off in the middle of the night. Everyone woke up that morning to no power and lots of snow.”
Shona says being without power was most difficult for households that have converted entirely to electricity, which includes many elderly people no longer able to manage coal ranges. “They were the first people that we called on to see how they were.”
Some of the more frail older people were shifted into a local rest home, which made extra beds available.
Shona says there’s a strong sense of community in the area and people automatically look out for each other during difficult times. “In rural communities, people pull together.” A resource centre coordinates help and runs a foodbank, leaving the church to focus more on meeting spiritual needs.
Mackenzie Cooperating Parish has two worship centres in Fairlie and is also responsible for the Church of the Good Shepherd in Lake Tekapo. The big snowfall on Monday 12 June meant a wedding of a couple from overseas booked for the Church of the Good Shepherd on the Wednesday could not be held, as Burkes Pass was closed.
Other adjustments to normal life included leaving taps on overnight in older houses so they didn’t freeze, Shona says. Most children had a week off school or kindergarten.
Some people living on farms, including parishioners in the Burkes Pass area, were without power for 10 days. Because of the need to feed out to livestock and the poor condition of the roads, they were unable to attend church services. Shona says a side effect was improvising by playing CDs when neither of the congregation’s two pianists were able to make it.
The first half of July continued to be very cold in Fairlie, with frosts of between -10 and -12 degrees Celsius. At lunch time, the temperature would edge above zero, perhaps hitting 5 degrees by three o’clock, before it started to get cold again.
Things were “pretty much back to normal” by mid July, though some spots in all-day shade had up to 20cm of snow remaining.