Fifty years ago the small town of Geraldine was rocked by the deaths of four children in a flash flood in Peel Forest.
Geraldine historian Craig Matheson was just 6 when the tragedy occurred, but with so many people new to Geraldine since then, he believes it is important people know about the danger flash flooding poses, and why they should be careful around the area.
On January 28, 1975 the children — aged three to 12 — were killed after the banks of the Kowhai Stream in Blandswood burst and their holiday home was destroyed.
Newspaper reports at the time said a torrential downpour — which produced 171mm (17.1cm) of rainfall in 24 hours — resulted in the Kowhai Stream being dammed by landslide debris.
When the dam burst, about 6pm, the wave of water and debris was too much for the stream’s banks to handle.
The Taskers’ holiday home was the first to feel the impact.
The wall of water, mud, rocks, and tangled vegetation had hit the building; instantly smashing the house to pieces.
The water lifted the Taskers’ car 3m into the air and wedged it in a tree.
The children who died were Jeffrey Richmond Tasker, 6, Julia Christine Tasker, 4, and Leighton Roger Tasker, 3, from Mayfield, along with their young uncle Garry Charles Woolley, 12, of Westerfield.
Geraldine man Craig Matheson was 6 years old when it happened.
Mr Matheson said his younger brother — who went to Peel Forest the day afterwards — could still remember seeing a car up a tree.
"He said ‘jeez Dad, look at all that stuff’."
The traffic cones, which had been constructed out of gallon drums, were everywhere.
"We found out later about the kids."
He said he could not believe it had happened so long ago.
"Time flies."
Mr Matheson felt Geraldine’s new residents might not have heard of the event, or know about the danger flash flooding posed to the area.
As a child, he had stayed in Blandswood — in Peel Forest — every year to see the new year in.
After the tragedy, he said, the area was "not the same".
Earthworks carried out to prevent a future tragedy had changed the picturesque spot.
Mr Matheson’s grandmother Clarice Matheson was a keen photographer, and had taken photos of the scene in the weeks before the tragedy unfolded and in the days after.
Those photographs had been meticulously dated and stored, and were now in Mr Matheson’s possession.
His grandmother, who had known the three Tasker children, had attended their funeral.
Mr Matheson’s mother had begun collecting newspaper articles in the decade before the tragedy unfolded which had given him an extensive knowledge of the area’s history.
He was nicknamed "Mr Historical" to some, as he was often sharing his grandmother’s photographs on the Geraldine Community Facebook page.
A hazard analyst for the Canterbury Regional Council (Peter Kingsbury) wrote in 2000 that at least four flash floods had occurred at Blandswood in the 250 years previous.
He wrote evidence suggested that the 1975 event was not the most destructive flash flood during that period.
Floods like those could occur at any time of the year.
