Nelson braced for second hit,
Lionel and Noelene Wells were evacuated from their Nelson home two weeks ago when ex-cyclone Fehi hit.
Lionel, 97, was carried to safety by police through the storm-driven seawater surrounding their home in the low-lying peninsula of Monaco.
Yesterday, as Cyclone Gita was expected to bring more storm surges, they were preparing to leave.
‘‘I’m just terrified of what’s going to happen. I can’t take any more,’’ said Noelene, 86, who was leaving with her husband to stay with family.
Noelene’s daughter Helen would stay in the Martin St home built by Lionel 50 years ago. She is having an extended a holiday in Nelson to look after her mother and step-father, who were selling their house to move into a home.
She said they only had a little car, and no means of getting sandbags to the house.
Other Monaco residents were yesterday laying sandbags, moving belongings and preparing to leave the low-lying peninsula as Cyclone Gita approached.
Nelson Tasman Civil Defence at 1pm yesterday urged residents who had been flooded by storm surge during ex-cyclone Fehi to consider staying with family and friends tonight.
Heavy rain is forecast in Nelson from 9am to 9pm, with severe gales from 3pm to 10pm, and the potential of coastal inundation with high tide overnight.
More than 30 homes on the lowlying Monaco peninsula were inundated by the sea as the tide reached 5.42 metres when the remnants of Fehi made landfall during king tide on February 1.
A resident whose house was badly damaged by storm surge said the council could have found a good supplier of sandbags, with reports that local hardware and landscape stores had run out of them.
The Nelson City Council has said it doesn’t have the resources to provide sandbags to ratepayers.
In a post on its Facebook page yesterday afternoon, Nelson Tasman civil defence said Concrete & Metals in Motueka had about 2000 sandbags for the public from about 3pm.
A group of neighbours said having council contractors sandbag a power transformer outside their homes as Cyclone Gita approached was a slap in the face.
One woman said while they had placed sandbags along much of their property, when she asked contractors if she could have five bags to line her lower-lying garage they refused.
Further down the street, resident Ian Fenemor said support had been good from the council during ex-cylone Fehi and during the cleanup, but it was the ‘‘ambulance at the bottom of the cliff’’.
‘‘Why not for a week and half beforehand, because it’s coming, use all those resources that they’ve got to make sandbags and dish them out so that you don’t have to have all that cleanup afterwards.’’
He suggested the council at least hold a meeting for local residents, as had happened to flood-hit people in Tasman district.
Ian’s wife, Petrina, was preparing to leave the house, while he stayed to try to protect it during the storm.
‘‘I’m not going to watch that happen again,’’ she said.
She was following storm updates on social media, and had noticed more warning this time round, as well as advice on how to protect homes.
She thanked Nelson MP Nick Smith for sending a card of support after ex-cyclone Fehi, but said the council should do more.
‘‘The council are happy to protect their assets. Well, actually, the people are your asset,’’ Petrina said.
On the other side of the peninsula, on Point Road, Lois and Harvey Morgan, had moved belongings upstairs and weren’t sandbagging.
The house, which had been their home for 40 years, flooded for the first time on February 1, with water coming ‘‘from all directions’’.
‘‘We’d have to sandbag all four sides of the property,’’ Harvey said.
The couple had family they could stay with, but didn’t think it would come to that, being in a tidal area, and having had enough hot water and a ‘‘flushing toilet’’ last time.
If Civil Defence centres needed to be opened again to help evacuated people, that would be broadcast on the radio, and through social media sites like the Nelson Tasman Civil Defence Facebook page, said Roger Ball, Civil Defence group controller for the two regions.
‘‘Exactly which ones will be open and staffed will depend on where the impacts of the event are.’’
But he recommended people who had been affected by flooding during ex-cyclone Fehi make arrangements with friends and family to spend a night with them as a precaution.
‘‘Beyond that if they are going to stay, to make sure that they are paying close attention to what’s going on and have their evacuation plan and kit ready. And if somebody gets into strife, to dial 111.’’