Fallen trees, floods and slips close roads
Windblown trees, flooding and slips closed roads across Nelson and Tasman and caused power cuts as wild weather struck the region.
In Tasman District, the Riuwaka River was swollen by heavy rain, causing surface flooding at Cooks Corner, near the turnoff to Kaiteriteri.
Steve Holloway, who lives on Cooks Corner, went out for half an hour and came back to find his section flooded at lunchtime.
‘‘It’s a complete river out there,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s not awesome ... but you can’t do much.’’
Holloway said the same thing happened to the property in July last year, though the water levels were higher then.
‘‘I’m lucky I’ve been able to get ahead this time around. We’ve just got to wait and see how high the water levels get.’’
By mid-afternoon. river levels were dropping.
Tasman District Council communications officer Chris Choat said slips and trees had affected roads across the region, including around St Arnaud, the Motueka Valley Highway, and Moutere.
A number of trees were blown down across Korere-Tophouse Rd, on the way to St Arnaud, with no vehicles able to get through, and some cut off for several hours between fallen trees.
Flooding also closed the highway between St Arnaud and Renwick, and at Upper Tākaka in Golden Bay.
There were slips across the road on Dovedale Rd and the Motueka Valley Highway, with the road closed from Tapawera to Dovedale Rd.
Surface flooding hit Tadmor Valley Rd, Dovedale Rd, the Motueka Valley Highway, Gardner Valley Rd, Chamberlain St and Queen Victoria St, Motueka.
Stafford Drive in Ruby Bay was closed but reopened yesterday afternoon. There was a slip blocking one lane on KaiteriteriSandy Bay Rd, and a large hole in
Blackbird Valley Rd.
A council statement at midday said between 50mm and 150mm of
rainfall fallen in the previous 12 hours throughout the district.
This had resulted in high river flows in the Tākaka Valley, particularly at Upper Tākaka, and also in the Riuwaka River.
Parts of Richmond were without power yesterday morning after a tree fell on lines in Hill St North. Network Tasman network strategy manager Murray Hendrickson said power was cut to Hill St North and the surrounding area at 8.40am.
Initially, 760 homes were affected. Power was restored by mid-afternoon.
There were also power cuts in Motueka that affected 1000 connections in Kaiteriteri and Riwaka, and an outage in the area around Cable Bay.
The cuts had been caused by the bad weather bringing down lines, Hendrickson said.
A police spokesperson said yesterday morning that three slips had been reported in the region. Two were on the Coastal Highway, State Highway 60, between Nelson and Motueka, and were later cleared.
Another slip had also been reported at Hira, at the start of the Whangamoa Saddle on SH6, and contractors had been sent to clear it.
The spokesperson urged people to drive to the conditions.
MetService had a strong rain warning in place for Tasman yesterday, with 110mm to 150mm expected to accumulate west of Motueka, and 80mm to 100mm elsewhere.
The forecast for today was brighter, with showers clearing before dawn, and partly cloudy conditions.
Provisional rainfall data on the Tasman District Council website showed that 108.8mm was recorded for the Anatoki River at Paradise in the 12 hours to 8am yesterday, with 94.8mm for the Waingaro River at Little Devil, 74.8mm for the Riuwaka River at Tākaka Hill, 41.5mm for the Motueka River at Woodstock, 16.5mm for Richmond at the council office, and 28.7mm for Nelson at Founders Heritage Park.
Meanwhile, MetService had a strong wind warning in pace for Tasman west of Motueka, with east to southeast winds expected to rise to gales, with gusts up to 120kph to 130kph in exposed places.
‘‘Strong wind gusts could damage trees, power lines and unsecured structures. Driving may be hazardous, especially for high-sided vehicles and motorcycles,’’ the website said.