Nelson Floods Civil Defence Update from Civil Defence Controller Alec Louverdis and Mayor Rachel Reese. Video / George Heard
WEATHER LATEST:
• 411 homes in Nelson evacuated due to river flooding and landslides, with more slips being reported overnight. • MetService has issued a Red Warning for more heavy rain tonight, which is likely to cause significant flooding and slips. • "A really tough night" for residents, says Nelson mayor Rachel Reese - it will "take years, not months" to recover. • State of local emergency declared in Marlborough region. • Severe weather in Taranaki region causes flooding, voluntary evacuations, road closures, sewerage overflows, downed trees, and landslips. • Kaitaia still cut off this morning as floodwaters and slips keep the Far North town isolated from the rest of the country. • Many areas are completely cut off by closures to State Highways 1, 10 and 11, and local roads. • Nelson Tasman Mayoral Relief Fund, including Govt's initial $200k, now accepting donations from the public.
More than 400 homes have had to be evacuated after two nights of wild weather in Nelson, and there's more on the way.
A local state of emergency was declared at 4.30pm today by Marlborough mayor, John Leggett.
"This declaration will ensure our emergency response team has all the resources it needs to effectively support those communities affected by the recent rain event," Leggett said.
Last night, the Rai River had its biggest flood on record, estimated as a 60-year event. More than 550mm of rainfall has been recorded at the Rai Falls so far, while Tunakino Valley has seen more than 760mm of rainfall since Tuesday.
Near Nelson, communities have been evacuated for a second night as the "devastating" wild weather continues to lash the top of the South Island, while parts of the Far North have been cut off by flooding and slips.
Civil Defence Controller Alec Louverdis said at an update this afternoon there have been 411 homes evacuated, including 113 because of landslides last night.
There is no guarantee that people would be allowed back into their homes today, he said.
Louverdis said he understood people's frustrations, but added the decision was made yesterday not to allow people back as they may have had to leave again as the bad weather returned.
Photo / George Heard
He estimated roughly around 1200 people could be displaced from their homes tonight following "heartbreaking" damage to their city that would take "years" to recover from.
"As we were driving there were slips falling everywhere," Louverdis said, who was visibly emotional reflecting on the damage.
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Meanwhile, Air New Zealand cancelled all scheduled flights from Nelson airport from midday today due to heavy fog conditions.
Nelson mayor Rachel Reese said the damage was devastating and dramatic.
Projects in the city, for example, that had been worked on for years had been destroyed by rampant weather.
Mayor of Nelson Rachel Reese said the damage was devastating and dramatic. Photo / George Heard
And there will be people who cannot return to their homes ever.
Louverdis said the land, such as the steep slopes, would continue to move for weeks.
He said in a 15 minute period while he was in a meeting with the two mayors on the weather...things went from bad, to worse, to "unbelievable".
He urged people in the region to stay home if possible, reporting St John had been stuck in traffic for up to 90 minutes, delaying a vital emergency response.
He called for people to respect the cordons in place, which were manned by the police.
A large portion of the Maitai Road have been washed away, he said.
MetService says this next period of heavy rain could lead to more surface flooding and slips due to the ground already being saturated from recent heavy rain.
A swathe of the North Island from Northland and Auckland through to Taranaki are under orange heavy rain warnings this morning - with hazardous driving conditions, slips and surface flooding expected as wild weather lashes the country.
Severe weather in the Taranaki region has caused flooding, voluntary evacuations, road closures, sewerage overflows, downed trees, and landslips.
Taranaki's Civil Defence Emergency Co-ordination Centre (ECC) along with partner agencies are cautiously optimistic rivers have peaked.
Taranaki Civil Defence controller Todd Velvin said: "We will continue to monitor the situation and respond as needed overnight. The latest information I have received is that the rivers have started to recede. However, we're not shutting shop and we'll be keeping a close eye on things. And we will provide updates and guidance if needed."
Reese said this morning "it's been a really tough night" for people in Nelson.
About a quarter of those properties had to be evacuated due to the threat of slips and stability issues caused by the heavy rain in the region this week.
Reese called on locals to conserve water as much as possible from today, as the city has lost its primary water supply pipeline and there are problems with the power supply to the water treatment plant.
She told TVNZ's Breakfast power supply issues are causing some challenges for authorities working to get things fixed.
Photo / George Heard
"Right now, I need Nelsonians to conserve water."
More rain is to come for saturated Nelson with a rare red heavy rain warning in place as the city faces a third night of downpours.
Photo / George Heard
People should watch for any signs their property was in danger from a slip - including new or growing cracks in building walls or the ground, new mounds of dirt around the property, leaning posts or poles and any sudden pipe breaks. A third night of heavy rain is expected on Friday night through to Saturday afternoon.
"If you see these signs, or feel unsafe for other reasons, you can self-evacuate. If you can't go to friends or whānau, please go to Saxton Stadium," Civil Defence said in a 1am message to social media.
Photo / George Heard
Civil Defence Nelson Tasman spokesman Chris Choat said last night all residents on Airlie St in Glenduan, north of Nelson, were being evacuated.
Choat said this was a precautionary measure and authorities preferred to evacuate them early rather than at 2am when high tide was expected.
A Herald photographer in Nelson said army Unimog trucks were being used to ferry evacuated residents to safer parts of the city and region.
Flooding in central Nelson. Photo / George Heard
Photo / George Heard
Reese said the significance of this event on the city "couldn't be overstated".
"The span of this is massive and it's really complex, it's going to take Nelson years to recover from this."
She also said that although the high tide at 2am is worrying, it's the slips that officials are more worried about at this stage.
"The Maitai River is still rising but at the same pace as yesterday, it's the slips we are more concerned with at this stage, the hill is literally still moving as we speak."
The Maitai River, which runs through Nelson city, has already burst its banks and floodwater has flowed onto nearby roads and properties.
"The river level is comparative to yesterday for sure, and we are monitoring it closely. We can't say with certainty that it is going to be higher than yesterday's level," Choat said.
NZ Defence Force personnel are in Nelson to help people evacuate. Photo / NZDF
Kerry McNamara, a fire station officer in Nelson, rescued an elderly lady from her residence last night. He said it was a "very dangerous rescue".
Just getting to the house was "sketchy", McNamara said, and rescuers utilised the help of Land Search & Rescue New Zealand in order to access the property.
After locating the woman, it was impossible to get her out the way they came in, McNamara explained. With the help of the police, they found a safe route from the main road to get her to safety.
"It was probably one of the most spectacular rescues I have been a part of."
The elderly lady was taken to hospital by police following the rescue, officers said she was stable and coherent but in shock.
Glenduan from the air. Photo / Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter
Residents around Nelson will wake to the aftermath of the "devastating" wild weather that forced hundreds of people from their homes and will take years to recover from.
Heavy rain caused havoc across the country, virtually cutting off the north from the rest of the country, submerging other routes and sinking a boat in Auckland's Waitematā Harbour after it broke its mooring and smashed against a rocky sea wall.
In Nelson, intense rain caused significant damage across the city, washing out roads, flooding homes and prompting landslides.
Hundreds of homes were evacuated as emergency response crews moved in to assess how badly damaged the properties were.
Civil Defence controller Alec Louverdis said he was hopeful the assessments could be completed Friday and was "praying" most people would be able to return to their homes.
Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty travelled to Nelson on Thursday and said the damage was extensive.
"We were literally watching a hill just flow on down, it was like you were pouring out yoghurt out of a container, just this thick sludge carrying on down, steady as.
"And also a relatively new development, where the middle of the road had just been washed out, a crater that was deeper than I am tall."
A resident of Nile St in Nelson checks their property that backs on to the Maitai River. Photo / Tim Cuff
Most of the rivers on the West Coast were starting to drop by Thursday afternoon, McAnulty said.
Experts say an "atmospheric river" is behind the week's heavy rain and is likely connected to climate change.
University of Otago senior lecturer in geography Dr Daniel Kingston said earlier in the week the weather event could be more damaging because it comes on top of an already exceptionally wet winter.
Kingston said although this specific weather event had not been analysed regarding the influence of climate change, it was "more than likely playing a role".
A state of emergency was declared in the Tasman region after widespread flooding hit Nelson. Photo / George Heard
Niwa meteorologist Tristan Meyers said it was being investigated whether or not atmospheric rivers were increasing for New Zealand but, "I'd speculate that it's in line with what we would expect from climate change".
MetService said there was expected to be some reprieve in the heavy rain for the upper South Island before it returned this afternoon through to Friday morning.
NZ rain event 15-21 Aug: Highest running totals to 7pm Aug 18th
The national weather authority had issued warnings for either heavy rain and strong winds for much of the northern and western parts of the country, including red warnings for Buller, Westland and Nelson, but these were due to expire Thursday night.
McAnulty said on Thursday the initial concern was that the wild weather was headed toward Golden Bay, however it changed quickly and hit mainly Nelson.
In Nelson, 308 homes had to be evacuated yesterday, including 10 due to a landslide and the rest due to flooding. McAnulty said roughly 20 per cent of the 104 properties assessed today had been yellow or red-stickered.
"It's clear that there is going to be a long-term impact to the residents of this city."
Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty providing an update to media on the damage caused by the wild weather. Photo / George Heard
A $200,000 mayoral relief fund has been established to help communities in the Nelson and Tasman area.
"There are people that have been displaced from their homes, there is damage to property, there is damage to many areas of this city that this relief fund can assist with," McAnulty said.
Reese, the Nelson mayor, said the damage from the wild weather was devastating and it would take years for the city to recover.
"It's going to be a long haul; I think we needed to prepare ourselves for that now ... We have got damage throughout the city and ... we've got damage to people's homes and homes that are likely to be uninhabitable and that is going to be a challenging scenario for many families.
"[The] recovery, in my view ... it's not going to be over a matter of months, it's going to be over years."
Reese said she was concerned about the degree of instability in the hillsides and there was the potential for more slips, flooding and evacuations.
She said the degree of increase in the flow of the Maitai River today was something she had never seen before.
"It really did build very quickly ... the velocity of water that has moved from some of these spaces is just incredible."
Thursday's storm pushed a yacht onto rocks at Tāmaki Drive, Auckland. Photo / Michael Craig
Meanwhile, parts of the Far North were all but cut off today after slips in the Mangamuka Gorge blocked State Highway 1, and flooding made the alternative SH10 impassable at Kāeo.
An elderly Kaitāia woman was rescued from her property by an inflatable surf rescue boat earlier today when floodwaters cut her off. Ahipara Surf Rescue Club captain Tony Walker said crew members were called to Kaitāia south after the 75-year-old was trapped in her home by rising floodwaters.
In Auckland, wild winds and heavy rain pummelled the city, ripping a yacht from its mooring. It sank after smashing on rocks in Auckland's Waitematā Harbour.
