Emergency services responded to a large number of flooding incidents in central Nelson caused by heavy rainfall this morning, while Westport also experienced surface flooding.
Nelson Mayor Nick Smith said there had been torrential rain in the city since midnight.
“We’ve got a number of streets that are closed, we’ve had manholes burst, there are some shops that have had flooding into them.”
Smith said he had spoken with Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell who advised the threshold had not been met for a state of emergency to be declared.
“If the storm event moves through, as they are predicting, it will not be necessary,” Smith said.
He highlighted the city’s dependence on the Wellington rain radar and said he would be “so keen” for Nelson to get its own dedicated one.
A number of businesses are dealing with flooding after the heavy rain. (Source: 1News)
“Nelson’s got a very unusual topography with a whole number of valleys, and our capacity to be able to see where the damage is worse would be a lot better with that sort of technology.”
The council would continue to advocate for government investment for this, he added.
Fire and Emergency NZ Southern Communications Centre shift manager Lyn Crossan said there had been more than 20 incidents reported since 10.15am.
Fire and Emergency NZ prioritising worst incidents – watch on TVNZ+
Most of them were in the area between Washington St and Bishopdale in the south.
“We are prioritising the most urgent incidents first, where there is danger to people’s safety,” she said.
“However, the majority of incidents relate to floodwaters entering property.”
Crossan said FENZ was “strongly advising people to avoid travelling to or through that area this morning.”
‘Quite a bit of rainfall’
MetService meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane told 1News a front had moved over central parts of New Zealand, bringing rain and some periods of heavier falls with it.
“Nelson saw quite a bit of rainfall in a short space of time, and one of the results of that, was some of that surface flooding.”
Since midnight, around 46mm of rain had fallen in Nelson – with 18mm of that falling between 9am and 10am.
“The next hour also saw quite a bit of rainfall, which was 13mm.”
She said conditions were expected to ease.
“By the end of the day, most of that, if not all of that wet weather should be away from the region.”
Roads, state highways closed in Nelson and West Coast
Nelson Tasman Civil Defence said there was “localised surface flooding” around the region, especially on roads.
“Some of the flood waters are quite deep, so please treat all flood waters as potentially contaminated.”
Nelson City Council said Rutherford St was closed between Bridge St and Hardy St while contractors assessed an open manhole.
Van Diemen St was closed from Rutherford St to Brougham St, and Vanguard St was closed near the Hardy St roundabout to Haven Rd.
“All eBus services are currently suspended while the eBus team assess the flooding.”
The council said the rain radar showed the front was moving away but that Nelson was experiencing flooding in some areas.
The Ministry of Education said that one primary school, Auckland Point School, and an alternative education site, Youth Nelson, had closed due to the weather.
“There is significant flooding near Nelson Intermediate School, which has asked whānau to pick children up early if they can and advised students not to walk home,” acting South leader Andrea Williams said.
“Victory Playcentre and Rutherford Street Kindergarten have also advised us they were closing.”
Multiple slips and flooding closed a section of State Highway 6 between Inangahua Junction and the SH6/SH67 Lower Buller Gorge intersection until at least tomorrow, the New Zealand Transport Agency said.
“Delay your journey or if use an alternate route. Next update by early evening or earlier if road conditions change,” NZTA said.
Heavy rain meant the slips would continue to move.
“Teams are working to clear access through the slips but, in the meantime, motorists are advised to use alternative routes via Reefton, Greymouth and the Great Coast Rd.”
In Westport, Buller Emergency Management said there was “quite a bit” of surface flooding around the town.
“Please remember to stay safe — do not attempt to drive through flooded areas.”
‘Up to my knees within half an hour’
Richard Adams told 1News the water “just kept rising and rising” once the downpour began around 9am.
“I put cones out on the street, but unfortunately, some people drove around them, it flooded all the buildings.”
He said the water had come up to his knees and was lapping at the edge of the door of his café.
“It happened really fast, within half an hour, it was a really big downpour, and then all of sudden, we were flooded.”
