The Rai Valley (pictured) was badly impacted by record rainfall last year - with newly released data revealing last winter was the wettest in almost a century for Marlborough.
The Rai Valley (pictured) was badly impacted by record rainfall last year - with newly released data revealing last winter was the wettest in almost a century for Marlborough.
Rainfall records have been shattered, with newly released data revealing last winter was the wettest in almost a century for Marlborough - when the region was hit by “eye-watering” damage.
Further, the 2022-24 “hydrological year” saw up to 60 per cent more rain in the region than average, according to Marlborough District Council’s annual State of the Environment Rainfall Report.
Nile St (pictured) in Nelson was flooded amid a state of emergency declared in Nelson-Tasman, West Coast and Marlborough in August last year. Photo / Tim Cuff
The report, which was released today - almost a year after the storm that wrought devastation on the region - made prominent mention of rainfall during July and August 2022.
A state of emergency was declared in Marlborough on August 19 due to an onslaught of heavy rain and flooding. Swathes of the South Island were scarred by silt brought by floodwaters.
At least 570 properties were damaged during record rainfalls about the West Coast, Nelson-Tasman and Marlborough regions in August last year. Photo / Tim Cuff
States of emergency were also declared on the West Coast and in Nelson-Tasman. At least 570 properties were damaged. The Defence Force dispatched soldiers to Buller, where communities were completely cut off.
Buller Mayor Jamie Cleine said at the time, “Westport is an island at the moment. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
At least nine properties were red-stickered, and 11 had a yellow sticker. A red sticker means a house is uninhabitable. A yellow sticker means residents can return to their house when it is safe.
Three-hundred-and-fifty significant slips were reported in the Nelson-Tasman area, and highways across the top of the South Island were blocked.
Landslips in Wellington damaged property and closed roads.
People were forced from their homes as slip risks and flooding prompted evacuations. Across the Cook Strait, in Wellington, cars were crushed under a rush of earth.
Marlborough Mayor John Leggett called the damage in his region eye-watering at the time.
During the thick of the storm, Leggett told the Herald, “Morale is still strong. When you look at some of the communities, they have their own network - they band together to help each other.”
Surface water hydrologist Charlotte Tomlinson told the council’s environment and planning committee today “winter 2022 was likely the wettest in Marlborough in approximately 100 years”.
Flooding on Te Hoiere Rd, Marlborough in August last year. Photo / Marlborough District Council.
A new rainfall record was also set for Blenheim.
Tomlinson said, “July 2022 was the wettest month in 93 years for Blenheim, with 220 millimetres of rain received. This was also the first time monthly rainfall has exceeded 200mm in the town.”
More than a metre of rainfall was recorded at a weather station in Marlborough in August 2022 - “The first month where more than [a] metre was recorded,” Tomlinson said.
She said 1241mm was recorded at Tunakino in the Rai Valley - a particularly hard-hit area.
Nelson was practically cut off when slips blocked State Highway 6 following record rainfalls in August last year. Photo / Tim Cuff
The 2022-23 “hydrological year” - which begins on July 1 and ends the following June 30 - saw up to 60 per cent more rainfall than average across the region.
Kenepuru Head in the Marlborough Sounds had “significantly more rain than usual”, Tomlinson said, where more than 2.8 metres fell over the year. The average is 1.7m.
Winter 2022 had the highest rainfall of any season at 12 of 14 long-term monitoring sites. The oldest site is at Wairau Valley in Southwold, built over a hundred years ago. Another site in Linkwater has recorded rainfall since 1938.
Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.
