The road through the small village of Anakiwa, at the end of the Grove Arm in Queen Charlotte Sound, has slumped due to flooding. Photo / Marlborough District Council
The road through the small village of Anakiwa, at the end of the Grove Arm in Queen Charlotte Sound, has slumped due to flooding. Photo / Marlborough District Council
After going three days without power, Lochmara Bay resident Monyeen Wedge is having to chuck out her meat, and plans to live off the tins of food she has stockpiled in her pantry.
And she needs to find out if it's safe to refreeze thawed milk.
Wedge is one oftwo permanent residents in the Marlborough Sounds bay, which has been "sodden" with rain like the rest of the region. She fears more bad weather could be detrimental to the boat-access-only area.
She said she could see from her home one slip that had come down in the bay. It appeared to have travelled down someone's walkway and taken out their "retaining wall" down to their jetty, she said.
Monyeen Wedge, pictured here in 2009, is one of two permanent residents in Lochmara Bay. Photo / Supplied
"As far as I can tell, there hasn't been damage to property. The area where the river and stuff comes down from the back of the hill, that's gone down what is, sort of, the pathway between the properties," Wedge said.
She said living on her own meant she did have "plenty" of stock she could live off.
"The stuff that is in the freezer that's gone soft, some of it is alright. If the bread refreezes that's not going to make you ill if you eat it.
"You certainly don't want to get sick when you're out here on your own."
She said the Picton Watertaxis and Beachcomber Cruises had been in touch to offer her support if she needed supplies, but for now she planned to live off the canned food she had stocked up in the pantry.
She thought there might be more damage further out in the bay, particularly where they had problems following flooding in July last year.
"I haven't been out, so I don't know what's happening further out from the centre of the bay.
"For instance, there may have been happenings in East Bay, or Karamu Bay ... but I can't see what's happening."
Wedge said she was concerned that more rain would cause more damage, as rainwater off the top of the bay managed to find "established paths", she said.
MetService was forecasting more rain for the region on Thursday and Friday.
"I think that as far as damage to property is concerned, I think that we've done pretty well.
"But because the ground is so sodden, I think that if we get any more rain, it could be a different story.
"The [paths] will just get worse, from there it might shoot sideways under people's houses.
Lochmara Bay in the Marlborough Sounds with boat access only. Photo / Hamish Clark
"But the fact that we have in this little subdivision we have access ways, it seems that the water is currently quite happy to use those."
Marlborough's recovery team was out on the water, and in the air, on Monday and Tuesday to understand the full extent of the flood damage.
Building assessors and geotech engineers travelled via helicopter and boat to assess homes in Okiwi Bay and the Pelorus Sound. Assessments would continue over the coming days.
A state of emergency was declared on Friday evening for Marlborough. The scale of the damage was thought to be worse than the storm of July 2021, which damaged 460km of the region's roads and cut off residents in the Marlborough Sounds, Waihopai Valley and Awatere Valley for months.
Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty on Monday announced a further $200,000 for Mayoral Relief Funds across the top of the south. Marlborough would receive $100,000 and an additional $100,000 would be contributed to Nelson Tasman.
The fund was available to Marlborough District Council area residents who suffered personal financial or emotional hardship because of the rain event.
Mayor Leggett said the event has been significant, and the recovery ahead would be another long journey.
"It is a bitter pill to swallow, but we must accept it and get on with the job at hand, and we are.
"Many of our local roads, in particular the Marlborough Sounds, will likely be inaccessible or affected for some time to come.
"Rest assured we will be doing all we can to get our communities connected again as quickly as possible, but it is going to take time."
People could donate to the mayoralty relief fund via online banking. Add the Marlborough District Council's account number: 02-0600-0202861-00 and include 'Mayoral Fund' as a reference.
