Anxious time for Marlborough as deluge swells streams

Marlborough families affected by the flash flood of February 17 last year watched anxiously overnight as streams swollen by continual rain sparked fears of a repeat.

Whatamango Bay family Jude and Jon Humphrey and their four children were staying indoors as the muddy waters of the Graham River rushed past close to their house.

"It's frightening to see the amount of water and the huge logs being forced under the bridge, and the power of the water," Mrs Humphrey said.

"We feel vulnerable as we are just 10m or so from the river."

The dirty, swift flowing water inundated the Department of Conservation (DOC) camping ground adjacent to their house had caused two groups of campers to flee the night before.

As the water crossed the camping ground, Mr Humphrey advised campers to leave and helped an English couple pack up their tent. They left for Picton to find accommodation out of the weather.

"Just as well this didn't happen at Easter as it was really busy," Mr Humphrey said.

They said Marlborough District Council had been casual about river works since last year's flood.

Mrs Humphrey said the council had not done enough to prevent flooding in the camping grounds.

Mr Humphrey said he was "brassed off" the council had allowed the couple to build there and had done no work on the width of the Graham River.

But a DOC ranger Bruce Knight said the council had done a "commendable amount of work" in the Whatamango Bay catchment. He said the flood yesterday was no surprise, as the area was a low lying flood plain.

In last year's flood the Humphreys lost tools, timber in the garage and sports equipment.

Eddie and Ronnie Mauger, of Waikawa, were also more prepared this time having had their garage flooded last year.

Mrs Mauger said the council had done lots of work on the banks of the Waikawa Stream but she was still surprised to see how fast the water rose.

"I'm not the frightened type but we are prepared. I know to grab our dog Jack and move fast," she said.

Meanwhile, a family forced to flee its flood-ravaged home south of Nelson last Friday is critical of the lack of assistance it received to evacuate.

Tasman District Council has spent $50,000 repairing damage caused by the torrential downpour and the total bill is tipped to rise to several hundred thousand dollars.

Rainbow Skifield was hit with several small slips on its access roads.

Steve Davis said his home near Tapawera, 58km southwest of Nelson, was uninhabitable after being flooded by about 10cm of water.

By the time Mr Davis moved livestock, the rising waters from streams had crossed his property, leaving him, partner Nicky Murray and two children little time to leave.

"We grabbed a few things and within three minutes it was really high and we just had to get out," Mr Davis said.

They waited for help for an hour before retreating to a neighbour's house to call the council's after-hours emergency number.

A message was left with the call centre which he expected would be relayed to Nelson-Tasman Civil Defence manager Jim Burrows.

Mr Burrows said he spoke to Mr Davis after his self-evacuation and was satisfied he was safe.

The council did not declare a civil defence emergency.

Tasman District Council engineering services manager Peter Thomson said he knew of four self-evacuations but the extent of flooding did not warrant a civil emergency being declared.

Mr Thomson said the repair bill for Tasman district roads hit by last Friday's rain could rise to $400,000.

Bridges were washed out, trees uprooted, fences torn down, and State Highway 6 flooded near Motupiko.

The council will apply to Land Transport New Zealand for flood damage repair costs, which could subsidise 50 per cent of costs.

- NZPA