Floods force hundreds to leave homes
NELSON: Days of intense rain caused widespread damage across Nelson, displacing hundreds of people, while closing roads and disrupting lives in other parts of the country.
More than 400 homes had been evacuated in the past few days as the deluge caused slips and flooding while the rising Maitai River that runs through central Nelson kept emergency responders on high alert on Thursday.
Civil Defence controller Alec Louverdis estimated about 1200 people could be displaced from their homes, either staying with family or friends or at the welfare centre last night.
A state of emergency was declared in Marlborough yesterday afternoon by Marlborough Mayor John Leggett as the region’s Rai River, about halfway between Blenheim and Nelson, had its biggest flood on record, estimated as a 60year event.
Logs and trees have been strewn across State Highway 6 between Nelson and Blenheim while flooding in Glenduan, northwest of Nelson, left paddocks resembling lakes.
One Nelson resident was winched from their home on Thursday night while the wild weather tore apart a Stansell Ave home.
Yesterday, residents in Nelson braced for more rain as a MetService Red weather warning was issued for the area. It is due to expire at noon today.
The weather system that brought the devastation was expected to move off the country this afternoon, meaning some reprieve in Nelson, as well as other parts of the country that have been doused this week, including Marlborough, Taranaki and Northland.
Niwa tweeted the Maitai River in Nelson, which burst its banks earlier in the week, would rise this morning but the peak looked smaller than the past two days.
In Marlborough, more than 550mm of rain had been recorded at the Rai Falls by yesterday afternoon while 760mmplus had fallen in the nearby Tunakino
Valley since Tuesday.
Communities in Canvastown and Rai Valley were cut off from Marlborough and Nelson because of flooding, slips and road damage.
‘‘Access in and out of the Marlborough Sounds is also very fragile,’’ Mr Leggett said.
‘‘These communities will need assistance and support for weeks and months to come.’’
As well as scores of closed roads around Nelson, Air New
Zealand cancelled all flights out of the city yesterday because of fog.
A $200,000 Nelson mayoral recovery fund was announced earlier in the week by Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty during his visit to to the city.
The fund is also now open to donations from the public.
Tasman Mayor Tim King said all contributions from locals and those outside the region would be appreciated.
‘‘The impact from this natural disaster has been wideranging.
‘‘We’ve seen the obvious damage caused by flooding and landslips so far — however, once the debris is cleared, a number of people will need ongoing support to bring their lives back to normal.’’
The wild weather also flooded roads and caused slips in Northland and left Kaitaia virtually cut off from the rest of the country.
Two big slips on State Highway 1 at the Mangamuka Gorge and flooding at Kaeo and on SH10/ Inland Rd at Lake Ohia in the Far North stopped vehicles getting to and from Kaitaia.
Residents of hardhit Kaeo said it was some the worst flooding in years.
Slips also closed roads in the Wellington region while RNZ reported that two houses were evacuated because of a slip that came down below a section in Khandallah yesterday afternoon.
Taranaki had flooding, voluntary evacuations, road closures, sewage overflows, downed trees and slips. Schools in Waitara, near New Plymouth, sent pupils home.
By yesterday afternoon, Taranaki’s Civil Defence Emergency Coordination Centre was cautiously optimistic river levels had peaked. —