Nelson, Brightwater flooding: Dog swept into drainage system found safe after 24 hours

A dog that was missing for nearly 24 hours after being swept down a drain in flood-hit Brightwater, near Nelson, has been found safe and well.

Wild weather battered much of the South Island over the weekend, with widespread flooding, structural damage and one death.

Dozens of households were forced to evacuate in Nelson-Tasman and Marlborough on Friday due to rising floodwaters across the regions.

Aerial photos show extensive flooding in Riwaka, near Motueka. Photo / James Thomas

Around 1.30pm on Monday, Chloe Sellers’ 8-year-old dog Shiva fell into a fast-flowing drain and was quickly swept into the underground system.

“It was like a whirlpool basically, and it swept her under,” she said.

“We ran to the manholes down the road from my dad’s work, we sat there for hours. Everyone jumped in, racing around trying to find her. They were going everywhere. We got blueprints out, trying to find anything that might show us where she’d gone.”

After posting to social media, she said a group of local girls became determined to find Shiva.

Shiva was lost for nearly 24 hours after being swept into the Brightwater drain system during the weekend's wild weather.

She said she received a phone call around noon today that Shiva had been found alive.

“I was in absolute hysterics. I was crying, screaming. I sprinted there as fast as I could, and Shiva just came running up to me like nothing had happened,” Sellers said.

“She was so happy, wiggling her bum, tail going flat out. She was looking around like, ‘Where the hell have you guys been?’ Like she’d just been off on an adventure.”

She said members of the community had been out looking for Shiva late into the evening.

“The whole community really came together. It was amazing to know there are people out there who’d do that for us.”

The dog’s disappearance happened during the tail end of a severe weather event that brought more than 200mm of rain to parts of the region in just over 24 hours, causing rivers to overflow and flooding farmland, homes and roads.

In Wai-iti, south of Nelson, hop farmer Peter Lines died on Saturday morning after reportedly being struck by a tree while clearing flood damage.

Peter Lines was hit by a tree while clearing flood damage. Photo / RNZ

Lines died at the scene.

Tasman Mayor Tim King told RNZ the death had shocked the community.

“He was a big character, part of a multi-generational farming family and a significant part of the community.”

His death has been referred to the coroner.

Ngātīmoti, located inland from Motueka, was among the hardest-hit areas.

British broadcaster and local business owner Noel Edmonds shared footage showing extensive damage to his 320ha River Haven property, which includes a vineyard, pub, wellness centre and general store.

Noel Edmonds shared photos of the flood damage to his Ngātīmoti estate online. Photo / River Haven TV

“Over 200mm of rain ... fell in just over 24 hours, with the result that the Motueka River burst its banks and inundated the land for many kilometres around the Tasman area,” Edmonds said in a YouTube video.

“Our wellness centre has taken the full brunt of the torrent. The two beautiful treatment suites in the gardens have been wrecked. The doors were torn off the outside gym, and the lovely Bali Bridge at the entrance has been destroyed. The main building is now covered in a thick layer of silt and mud,” he said.

Outside the gates of River Haven, part of the Motueka Valley Highway collapsed into the river, leaving the road’s foundations exposed.

Edmonds said repairs would be a “significant engineering undertaking” and made more difficult by the winter conditions.

MetService says the weather system that brought the damage has now eased, with dry, cool conditions expected to settle in as a ridge of high pressure builds across the country.

Recovery efforts for many in the region are just beginning.

Nelson Mayor Nick Smith said that key infrastructure had been severely damaged, and that floodwaters had overwhelmed some wastewater systems.

A rāhui [temporary ban] on swimming and shellfish collection is now in place across Tasman Bay due to contamination concerns.

Ben Tomsett is a multimedia journalist based in Dunedin. He joined the Herald in 2023.