Weather: Nelson residents allowed back onto properties - 'rain has finally stopped'

By NZ Herald and RNZ

NZ Herald·

20 Aug, 2022 05:40 AM17 mins to read

Nelson Floods Civil Defence Update from Civil Defence Controller Alec Louverdis and Mayor Rachel Reese. Video / George Heard

NOW PLAYING • Focus Live: Nelson Floods Civil Defence Update (Clip)

Focus Live: Nelson Floods Civil Defence Update from Civil Defence Controller Alec Louverdis and Mayor Rachel Reece. Video / George Heard

KEY POINTS

- Around 100 new evacuations overnight, including 10 in Richmond after creek burst its banks and "re-evacuations" in Maitai Valley
- Multiple road closures in Nelson, Marlborough and Tasman with no direct link open between Nelson and Blenheim and Tākaka Hill too unsafe for contractors to check status
- Residents in Nelson, Stoke, Richmond, Redwood Valley and Havelock told to conserve water
- Nelson Airport reopens after earlier closure due to flooding on the airfield
- Rain expected to ease later this afternoon, but significant surface water remains in Nelson and surrounds
- In Northland, State Highway 1 through the Mangamuka Gorge and SH10 in Kaeo remain closed due to flooding and slips

Some Nelson residents are being allowed back into their homes for the first time since being evacuated earlier this week - however, they may not be allowed to stay in their properties.

3.15pm update

The latest information from the Nelson Tasman Civil Defence this afternoon is that some people are being allowed onto their properties to survey the damage and collect items.

"Now that the rain has finally stopped, we can look at getting some people back home to have a look and hopefully stay in their own beds tonight - although not everyone will be able to stay in their homes," a statement said.

A look at some of the rainfall totals recorded around the top of the South Island from midday Tuesday to midday Today.

The highest values were up in the ranges, feeding into to the rivers and streams. pic.twitter.com/u4kbw9NxTK
— MetService (@MetService) August 20, 2022

Those families who were evacuated from their homes on Wednesday, after the Maitai River breached, were the first to be granted access this afternoon.

Aerial pictures show the impact of the weather on Nelson - Nile St properties flooded. Photo / Tim Cuff

What to do if your home is badly damaged

Those properties were said to have been affected by floods; and authorities are advising residents of the next steps:

1. If your home does not have a red or orange sticker, you are okay to re-enter and stay in from tonight.

2. If your home does have a coloured (red or orange) placard, there is a potential issue with the property. You are allowed to go in, check the property and gather items, but you won't be allowed to stay.

People in the second category are also urged to take photos of any damage in the home that may be important for insurance claims.

Flooding in Richmond, near Nelson, this morning. Photo / Facebook

Residents of around 100 homes were evacuated in the Nelson region overnight, including 10 in Richmond after Reservoir Creek burst its banks. Photo / Facebook

"We will have more information for the people who cannot stay at home as soon as we can," authorities said.

Those whose homes are not suitable to stay in are advised that the Saxton Stadium is still the place to go for accommodation and other support; while the Trafalgar Centre is for information on insurance and other matters.

Residents have been evacuated from their homes in Richmond after a creek burst its banks, as flood-stricken Nelson Tasman, Marlborough and Buller remain in a state of emergency after a second dose of heavy rainfall overnight.

4.45pm update

Authorities have announced late this afternoon that State Highway 6 between Bayview/Atawhai and Hira will again be opened for two hours between 5pm and 7pm to allow residents to leave the area.

"The highway will be opened periodically - every half hour on the half hour between 5pm and 7pm, with the last supervised movement in or out at 7pm," a notice on Facebook read.

Outside of those supervised visits, the road will remain under full closure in order to allow contractors to keep working on damaged sections of the road, while also ensuring safety.

Floods in Nelson: A farm near Glenduan. Photo / Tim Cuff

Civil Defence Nelson Tasman said on Facebook this morning there had now been 508 homes evacuated since the floods began, with evacuations up by about 100 overnight, and many roads around the region are closed.

SH1 KOROMIKO TO SPRING CREEK, MARLBOROUGH - FLOODING - 1:30PM
The road will be CLOSED at 2pm for several hours, due to rising water levels. The @Interislander ferries have also been notified of the upcoming closure. ^AP pic.twitter.com/F884dDa12k
— Waka Kotahi NZTA Top of the South (@WakaKotahiTotS) August 20, 2022

People should stay off roads if at all possible, with SH60 between Richmond and Appleby the latest road to be closed this morning, due to flooding, Civil Defence said.

The Nelson Tasman Civil Defence said the township of Collingwood in Golden Bay is virtually cut off from the outside world.

It has also lost all phone, cellphone and internet coverage.

The main highway between Collingwood and Tākaka has also been severely damaged by flooding and slips and is closed. It requires a full assessment by geotechnical engineers before it can be opened to a single lane for light vehicles only.

This assessment is expected to take some time and it's unlikely the highway will reopen today, Civil Defence said.

Water should also be conserved, they said.

Occupants of around 10 homes in the Hill St area of Richmond, near Nelson, were asked to evacuate early this morning, Nelson Tasman Civil Defence public information manager Chris Choat said.

"The evacuations essentially have come from ... Reservoir Creek, which used to wend its way lovingly down between houses.

"It broke its banks and just went straight down."

Police, Fire and Emergency, the New Zealand Defence Force and contractors came to residents' aid, and work was now being done to try to realign the creek and stop further water coming down, Choat said.

He did not know if water had entered any homes, but there was widespread flooding on roads in the area.

Water overflow had run down Sutton St, round Gilbert St and onto Appaloosa Ave.

Three Brothers Corner roundabout is closed as is Brightwater Bridge and Waimea West Rd, he said.

The murky, brown 🟤 colour of the water is from near record to record rainfall across the top of the South Island.

The blue 🔵 above points to improving weather on the way. pic.twitter.com/SQZtjTW9BW
— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) August 19, 2022

"Basically [it's all] on the back end of the Waimea and the Wairoa rivers going through one-in-20-year floods … but both those rivers are beginning to drop now, and the rain's easing, so hopefully it won't take too long before that clears away."

The area affected by flooding had broadened thanks to the overnight rain, Civil Defence Nelson Tasman said on Facebook.

"That includes the Cannan-Upper Tākaka area and the Richmond ranges from the Wairoa to Hira. There's lots of surface water in ... Nelson, Richmond, Brightwater."

A flooded river in the Richmond area, near Nelson, this morning. Photo / Facebook

A large slip on Birds Hill in Golden Bay would take a while to clear, so the road between Tākaka and Collingwood was blocked, and it was unclear if Tākaka Hill was passable, they wrote.

"Tākaka Hill road is potentially closed but it is too unsafe for contractors to check just now. The road is blocked on the Tākaka Valley also, by Lindsays Bridge."

Other roads and highways closed this morning include Rocks Rd, which would be closed for the foreseeable future, and SH6 between Hira and Havelock is also closed, Civil Defence said yesterday.

SH63, between St Arnaud and Wairau Valley remains closed, so there is no direct road link between Nelson and Blenheim.

It was also likely the entire Marsden Valley Rd would close for at least a few hours today while it was stabilised after overnight weather damage, Nelson City Council wrote on Facebook this morning.

"Please be aware if you leave home there may be a delay in returning and you may not be able to leave your home. We are trying to ensure we can keep at least one lane open but we can't guarantee it."

Marlborough District Council posted a long list of road closures and disruptions online this morning, including Waihopai Valley Rd from the dam, due to flooding.

The wet weather also temporarily closed Nelson Airport this morning, with flooding on the airfield, but by 8am water had receded enough for it to reopen.

Flight information would be on their website, but travellers should contact their airline for specific flight inquiries, a post on the airport's Instagram page said.

There was 36mm of rain recorded at Nelson Airport between midnight and 6.30am, MetService meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane said.

"That's still quite a lot of rain to fall ... especially when the ground is already quite saturated, so any rain will just run off."

In Tākaka, 25mm of rain has fallen since midnight.

The rain would continue in the top of the south this morning before easing later this afternoon, Makgabutlane said.

As of 10.30am MetService had removed all weather warnings and watches for the top of the south.

The only part of the country under a weather watch is Fiordland, from George Sound southwards, which is under a heavy rain watch from 5pm today until 9am tomorrow.

The Maitai River, which caused flooding and evacuations in Nelson earlier this week, had also risen overnight and some people had to be "re-evacuated", Civil Defence spokesman Choat said.

"Fortunately that area had already been evacuated, however we did have to go back in and re-evaluate some people who had gone back in."

Water levels were now falling, but it had been a record-breaking event.

"Let's put it in perspective. Previously records showed the highest [the Maitai]
had ever got was 238 cumecs [cubic metres per second]. On the first night [of the flood] it went to 460cu, the second 420cu and last night 316cu.

"It's a significant amount of water."

Meanwhile, along with advising Nelson–Tasman motorists to limit their travel to essential travel only, police were warning of treacherous driving conditions across Marlborough due to slips and surface flooding.

A person was critically injured in a crash on Boundary Rd in Tākaka last night, a police spokeswoman said.

The crash involving one car occurred when it left the road and collided with a tree just after 10pm. The injured person was taken to Nelson Hospital in a critical condition.

Residents in Redwood Valley near Nelson have also been asked this morning to conserve water after an outage in the Redwood Valley rural water supply scheme, Nelson Tasman Civil Defence said on Facebook.

The water supply to the city's water treatment plant has also been damaged and is operating at a lower capacity than normal, they wrote.

"To maintain Nelson's drinking water, some areas of Stoke will receive water from the Richmond water supply. Changes are also being made to the water network throughout Nelson city to help reduce demand, so residents may notice a reduction in their water pressure."

Conserving water wherever possible would help everyone on the city supply, they wrote.

Marlborough District Council also warned those in Havelock to conserve water after a leak was discovered in the township potable water supply.

"Council is working to locate the leak but this is difficult under current circumstances. Low pressure or loss of supply may be experienced."

In Marlborough, the Rai River had its biggest flood on record on Thursday night, and the nearby Tunakino Valley has had more than 760mm of rainfall since Tuesday.

Marlborough Mayor John Leggett said the main issues for his council were in the Rai River catchment and northwest into the sounds.

"When you look at SH6, which is our connection with Blenheim through to Nelson, that road has taken a major, major hit and it's going to take days to be able to clear that to be able to allow traffic through."

The alternative route, SH63, which runs alongside the Wairau River, is also closed, effectively cutting Blenheim and Nelson off from each other.

Leggett said the Marlborough region hadn't really "dried out" from major flooding in 2021, or got on top of the roading issues that resulted from it.

In Nelson, the Matai River rose swiftly again overnight and Civil Defence workers were checking all properties that were evacuated on Thursday to ensure none had been reoccupied.

Controller Rob Smith said they would need to be re-evacuated as a precaution.

The Nelson Tasman area now had 440 evacuated properties: most were in Nelson but about 10 were in Golden Bay, he said.

Anyone who felt unsafe, or who saw indications of land movement such as cracks, deformation, odd noises, or water popping up in the wrong place, should evacuate.

Almost 270mm of rain had been recorded at Nelson Airport since Tuesday, Makgabutlane said.

"When you consider the average rainfall for the month [of August] is 80mm, it's just knocked it out of the park."

The wet weather across the country for the past few days would continue for most of today, with only eastern parts of the North Island and northern areas such as Auckland seeing an easing to showers.

"Several fronts are still affecting us today, there'll be quite a bit of rain in western and central parts of the country."

In Northland, SH1 is also closed through the Mangamuka Gorge and SH10 has been closed due to flooding in Kaeo.

Residents brace for atmospheric river's new wave

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 were evacuated in the past few days as the deluge caused slips and flooding while the rising Maitai River kept emergency responders on high alert on Thursday.

Civil Defence controller Alec Louverdis estimated about 1200 people could be displaced from their homes and end up staying with family or friends, or at the welfare centre overnight last night.

A state of emergency was declared in Marlborough yesterday afternoon by mayor Leggett as the region's Rai River had its biggest flood on record, estimated as a 60-year event.

The power of the weather that hit the Nelson region was evident in the photos that emerged — logs and trees have been strewn across SH6 between Nelson and Blenheim while flooding in Glenduan 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, with video footage showing it lying in pieces more than 20m down a steep slope.

A state of emergency was declared in the Tasman region after wide spread flooding hit Nelson. Photo / George Heard

Yesterday, residents in Nelson braced for more wet weather as a MetService red weather warning was issued for the area. It was due to expire at noon today.

Forecaster for the national weather authority Gerard Bellam said an atmospheric river had been "parked up" over the country as a "very large, intense" front sat to the east of New Zealand, preventing the weather system from moving away, and bringing prolonged rain.

That weather system 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 760mm-plus had fallen in Tunakino Valley since Tuesday.

Recovering from the damage caused by the wild weather is expected to take years. Photo / George Heard

Leggett said communities in Canvastown and Rai Valley were cut off from Marlborough and Nelson due to flooding, slips and road damage.

"Access in and out of the Marlborough Sounds is also very fragile," he said. "These communities will need assistance and support for weeks and months to come."

Slips and flooding closed scores of roads in Nelson while Air New Zealand cancelled all flights out of the city due to fog yesterday.

Civil Defence controller Louverdis, who was visibly upset reflecting on the damage from the wild weather to his city during a press conference yesterday, said the situation was "heartbreaking".

He said in a 15-minute period, while he was in a meeting with the two mayors, things went from bad, to worse, to "unbelievable".

Louverdis said the land, including steep slopes, would continue to move and slip for weeks, while Nelson Mayor Rachel Reese said recovery would take years. Reese said the damage was devastating and dramatic. There were hillsides, even areas with dense bush, in Nelson that had been completely scoured out.

"We are seeing more intense rainfall events, we're seeing hotter summers ... longer droughts ... we know that we have climate change on our doorstep, if not here already."

A $200,000 mayoral recovery fund was announced earlier in the week by Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty during his visit to Nelson. The fund is also now open to donations from the public.

The wild weather damaged homes, caused slips and flooding, and closed roads in Nelson this week. Photo / George Heard

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 wide-ranging. 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."

McAnulty said the damage from the storm was extensive, describing a slip he witnessed to be like "you were pouring out yoghurt out of a container, just this thick sludge carrying on down, steady as".

He also saw a road that had been "washed out" to reveal "a crater that was deeper than I am tall".

The wild weather also flooded roads and caused slips in Northland and left Kaitāia virtually cut off from the rest of the country. Two big slips on SH1 at the Mangamuka Gorge and flooding at Kāeo and on SH10/Inland Rd at Lake Ohia stopped vehicles getting to and from Kaitāia.

Residents of the hard-hit Kāeo told RNZ it was some of the worst flooding in years while a local cafe said a number of staff couldn't make it to work. Photos showed vehicles almost submerged in floodwaters on SH10 north of Kāeo on Thursday before the highway was closed that evening.

Slips also closed roads in the Wellington region while RNZ reported that two houses were evacuated due to a slip that came down below a section in Khandallah yesterday afternoon.

Taranaki had flooding, voluntary evacuations, road closures, sewage overflows, downed trees and landslips. As the river rose yesterday, schools in Waitara sent students home.

Logs and debris strewn over State Highway 6 between Nelson and Blenheim. Photo / Waka Kotahi

By yesterday afternoon, Taranaki's Civil Defence Emergency Co-ordination Centre (ECC) was cautiously optimistic river levels had peaked but crews would monitor the situation overnight.

The weather event behind this week's rain has been called an "atmospheric river", which experts have described as large and extremely high plumes of moisture that move in the atmosphere from the tropics to the mid-latitudes, where New Zealand is located.

Niwa meteorologist Tristan Meyers said when an atmospheric river hits another weather event or encounters New Zealand's mountainous terrain, vast amounts of water vapour are squeezed out, falling as heavy rain or snow.

Meyers said analysis was needed to confirm if this event was connected to climate change.

"I'd speculate that it's in line with what we would expect from climate change; for every degree of warming, the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere can increase by about 7 per cent."

University of Otago senior lecturer in geography Dr Daniel Kingston said although analysis had not been performed on this specific event yet with respect to the influence of climate change, it was likely playing a role.

"Average air temperature has warmed by slightly more than 1C over the past century — and as the atmosphere warms it can hold more moisture, increasing the likelihood for extreme heavy rainfall events such as this," Kingston said.

"Sea surface temperatures around New Zealand are also warmer than average right now, which can further amplify these sort of events."