Hundreds of homes in the Tasman region remain without power as assessment teams visit flood-damaged properties and tackle a major clean-up ahead.
Assessment teams are visiting properties today, focusing on Mārahau, Motueka Valley, Tadmore Valley, Tapawera, Wangapeka, Sherry River Valley, Riwaka, and Brooklyn.
The Nelson Tasman region remains under a state of emergency.
Parts of State Highway 6 remain closed in the region due to slips and flooding.
Currently, 357 households remain without power, according to the Tasman District Council, with work on repairing the network recommencing this morning.
Temporary boil water notices are in place for residents of Tapawera, and permanent boil water notices remain in place for Dovedale, Redwood Valley and 88 Valley.
“This is due to be reviewed tomorrow but will likely remain in place for longer. “
Officials took a helicopter flight over the affected area this afternoon. (Source: Supplied)
Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell has said damage costs would be “in the millions, without a doubt” as officials work to determine exact estimates.
Tasman District Mayor Tim King said yesterday seeing the damage from the air had been “really hard” and that there was a “lot more damage” than the last weather event.
“Some of the areas that were badly impacted last time, particularly some of the horticultural crops in Motueka Valley, have been absolutely devastated this time,” he said.
“So what was a bit of a clean up job is now like a complete rebuild, and that’s going to be the case right around the district.”
King said the flooding was “probably the most devastating” he had ever seen.
Torrential downpours deluge districts still trying to recover from last week’s floods. (Source: 1News)
“I’ve spent my whole life in this community… It’s pretty heartbreaking when you have these conversations with people… there’s that sense of where do you even start?”
Tasman District Council principal hydrologist Martin Doyle said the wet weather over the past two weeks had been “relentless”.
“We’ve had half a year’s rain in the last two weeks, and that’s really a key statistic to show how saturated everything is.”
He told 1News it was the worst he had seen in his 45 years of being a hydrologist.
“It was concerning. Everything happened very quickly, and suddenly we were looking at evacuating Takaka township, and then later on Motueka township, there were a whole lot of small communities being affected quite quickly.”
Emergency crews carried out at least 85 swift water rescues in the Ruidoso area, including of people who were trapped in their homes and cars. (Source: Associated Press)
While the saturation of the ground would be gone within a couple of weeks, the event had changed the landscape in many areas, he said.
“There’s places in the upper Motueka in particular where the rivers have changed course completely. People have lost big chunks of their farms, more than half of their farms, in some cases.”
Welfare support is available today at Motueka Recreation Centre from 10am to 3pm.