Drenched and weary Nelson locals remain on edge today, despite the rain easing off, with fears of more landslips and the flooded region's mayor saying recovery could take years.
Stories of dramatic night evacuations, fallen trees, landslides, and cut-off roads have emerged as weather-battered Nelson suffered another night of torrential rain.
Another 100 people were evacuated overnight – with more than 500 now having to leave their homes over the last few days.
While a state of emergency remains in place, MetService lifted all heavy rain warnings for the top of the South Island this morning.
Rain had "mercifully" paused this morning, residents told the Herald, hoping they were coming out the other side with the worst regional rain event in a decade.
It comes on the back of an unusually-wet July which has left the ground sodden and elevated waterways and water levels.
Maitai couple Victoria Fisher and her partner Francis Lagrutta, who is recovering from a hip replacement operation and was dramatically winched out in the early hours of yesterday morning, are staying with friends, and worried that more trees could come down and cause more damage to their property.
They spent yesterday with family in Nelson but managed to go back and check on their Atmore Tce property. Their house has been yellow-stickered which means they're allowed back, on the proviso that they evacuate again if authorities ask them to.
However, as keen as they are to get back, they're not rushing home, especially with Lagrutta's limited mobility.
Neighbours sent photos this morning which didn't reveal any further damage, Fisher said.
She's lived at the property for 24 years and experienced several flooding and slips before but never been evacuated and "always felt safe up on the hill.... until Thursday night".
A stand of eight mature wilding pine trees on her property's boundary were thinned earlier in the year.
But on Thursday night, as the rain poured, three of the pines came down, resulting in a massive blockage to access the street.
"I always thought it might be big wind that might take them out. It never crossed my mind that it might be a volume of water that would compromise their stability," she said.
"It's been subterranean water that's been flowing under the ground from behind my property and the hillside above – that's what has compromised them in the end."
The remaining five trees are "perched precariously" on the bank, she says.
They've also lost power and internet "so there'll be no teenagers wanting to live there", Fisher joked.
The couple also praised Fire and Emergency NZ staff who came to their aid on Thursday night, and in evacuating them at 4am Friday morning, saying they were extremely professional, helpful, and caring. They even carried out her two beloved pet dogs.
"We're so lucky to be in a community where there's such beautiful people that are prepared to be out there assisting. They really were very, very kind," Fisher said.
Nobody was evacuated on Iwa Rd and all of the houses are, for the most part, safe. But there's been a slip on the access road below and locals have been left "on edge".
Iwa Rd resident Kent Robertson says they've been packed with essentials, ready to evacuate at any moment.
"The rain has just been relentless – it keeps you on edge because you know things are slipping around you," he said.
"Anyone living near it is going to be on edge because if you've got water encroaching on your property or potential slips, it gets you a little bit tense."
Robertson was heading out again this morning to inspect the situation.
"We're just keeping an eye on the surrounding hillsides," he said.
"Everything behind us is pretty stable. There's a Douglas Fir forest which does a great deal of ground holding work which is of great benefit to us."
There's also some "slumpage" on his shared driveway which they are also monitoring carefully.
When the rain finally does move through, however, a massive clean-up will be required which will stretch the region's resources to the limit.
Nelson mayor Rachel Reese said the recovery will take years.
The damage was devastating and dramatic, she said, with multiple 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."
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