Little River was swamped by floodwater, after 200mm fell on the peninsula. Photo: Christchurch City Council
Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger has marked the council 10-out-of-10 for its handling of last week's storm, although he concedes Little River residents will not be offering glowing reviews.
Canterbury's Banks Peninsula would remain in a state of emergency until at least Wednesday.
The emergency was declared for all of Christchurch and the neighbouring Selwyn district on Thursday, after a deluge of persistent rain, but it was lifted in Christchurch city on Sunday and Selwyn on Friday.
Mauger said no homes were yellow or red-stickered in Christchurch or Banks Peninsula, but four homes were evacuated in Akaroa as a precaution, due to a large slip on Lighthouse Road.
Homes and businesses in Little River were swamped by floodwater on Thursday, as more than 200mm of rain fell on the peninsula.
Little River residents were critical of the council, saying if Lake Forsyth had been opened to the ocean earlier, the flooding could have been mitigated.
The lake was opened on Friday evening and residents said flooding drained from the settlement, as if a plug had been pulled from a bath tub.
"I'd say 8, 9, 10 out of 10 - it worked really well," Mauger told RNZ, when asked to rate the Christchurch City Council's handling of the event.
However, he backtracked on that assessment, when asked about Little River, acknowledging not opening Lake Forsyth earlier had "caused grief".
"You're right, over there is totally different and they'll go, 'That silly bugger, he doesn't know what he's talking about'," Mauger said.
"ECan and Selwyn have got a good system for opening Lake Ellesmere. It is a lot bigger, of course, it holds a lot more water.
"Lake Forsyth, we don't seem to have the same joined-up approach and I feel we should listen more to locals. It hadn't reached the level that we're allowed to open it."
Water was approaching the level to trigger the consent before the heavy rainfall arrived on Wednesday and the council had planned to open it on Saturday.
Mauger said he understood how frustrating that situation was for residents.
Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger gave his council 10-out-of-10 for its performance during the deluge. Photo: RNZ/Nathan Mckinnon
"We've got to look at a better system to make sure that stuff doesn't happen again," he said.
"They say, 'Open the lake, open the lake' and we're going, 'Oh, we aren't up to the level of the consent'. That'd grind anyone's boat, so we've got to work better to just go, 'Right, let's move quicker on those things'."
The council would investigate options to ensure the process ran smoother in future and Mauger was keen to explore the possibility of a mechanical solution, as the lake currently had to be opened manually by excavators.
The council said all roads were now open around the city, apart from Hendersons Road, which was affected by the managed release of stormwater from basins.
Most roads on Banks Peninsula were also now open or about to open, except Bossu Road from #220 to Lands End Road, due to a bridge washout, and Lighthouse Road.
The slip at Lighthouse Road was being monitored regularly, the council said.
"Visual assessments of the road cracks suggests some movement is still occurring.
"We need several days' worth of information to establish what's happening with the land, before we can make a decision about when residents can return to their properties and how access might be restored, and potential options to manage this slip in the short and long term."
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