'Never seen it like this': Homes flooded, roads closed by storm
Thursday, 1 February 2018
Families had just minutes to gather their belongings before wading through knee-deep water as they were evacuated from their homes.
'A bit of a trifecta' of a very low pressure system, king high tides and high winds flooded homes in the Nelson area, while huge waves crashed across roads, and high winds brought down trees.
Waves were breaking straight over the sea wall onto peoples' houses in Mapua, north of Rabbit Island, while residents being evacuated from the Monaco area of Nelson said it was the worst storm they had ever experienced.
Chloe Patterson was evacuated from her home in Ruby Bay. 'We had about five minutes … but we managed to barricade all our walls before the water even came into our yard, but once the wall was breached it just flooded in because along the sea wall it all filled up before it could get to the [flood] gates and then the waves started coming in and impacting the fences.'
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Another house on her street, Broad Sea Avenue, was thought to have come off its foundations.
Firefighters evacuated people from Tait St, a residential street just off Stafford Drive, the coastal road running along Ruby Bay into Mapua. People were wading through knee-deep water out of their houses, while firemen were carrying out kids. Some of the residents were just recovering from flooding six weeks ago.
The low-lying Monaco peninsula, near Nelson, was cut off from the rest of the city by the floodwaters. On Martin St, police were using a Nelson Surf Rescue inflatable rescue boat to help people off the peninsula, including a 94-year-old man.
Some residents were happy to stay, despite the water seeping into their homes - in some houses, it was knee-deep.
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Significant damage was visible on the outside of the buildings, as well as to the road. It appeared that seawater had caused the electricity transformer box to explode, blowing the roof off, which meant most of Monaco didn't have power.
The tide was still high as police did final checks on residents.
The famous Boat Shed Cafe in Nelson was pummelled by the waves, and has announced it will close indefinitely in the wake of the storm.
In Golden Bay, gale force winds caused trees to topple on roads and the high tide inundated many coastal areas. Police advised of some flooding in Rototai, and emergency service crews are on hand to assist property owners.
Golden Bay resident Jude Gillies said she had 'never seen the tide across the road as much as it is today'. She was in the Band Rotunda watching the high tide inundate Abel Tasman Drive in Pohara.
There were dozens of vehicles backed-up and spectators were standing on either side to watch the high tide crash over the road and into the cliff face. There were 'huge logs and debris' and 'rocks being washed over the road', and the water was 'lifting out great potholes', she said.
'The rocks are too big to lift, that's how strong the force is,' she said. 'I think people are still risking driving through, but it's a case of whether the road should be closed or people should use their common sense and not go through.'
She said they had gone down to have a look because it was 'so exciting'. 'The sea is so warm; it's high tide, but there's no rain.'
Nelson Tasman Civil Defence Emergency Management group controller Roger Ball said the flooding was caused by 'a bit of a trifecta' with a very low pressure system, king high tides and high winds. 'That's driving a lot of water and storm surge into the head of Tasman Bay and parts of Golden Bay.'
The weather was forecast to ease overnight, however, another king tide was expected on Thursday night at 11.30pm. It was not expected to be at the same levels – though people should still be prepared.
Some roads have now reopened while some remain closed as they are cleared and checked for damage. Please check both the Nelson City Council and Tasman District Council Facebook pages for updates as they come to hand.
Rocks Road (SH6) had reopened to vehicles by 5pm with a 30km/hr restriction in place. However, it was not reopened to cyclists or pedestrians.
Civil Defence said damage to the seawall, footpath and cycle lane and other structures on the seaward side made it likely that it will remain closed to pedestrians and cyclists for a longer period.
Both the Glenduan and Monaco areas will be restricted to residents access only for now.
Civil Defence said there was potential for sewage contamination in flood waters, rivers and the sea and those areas should be avoided.
Three Civil Defence centres had been set up at Collingwood Area School, Hill's Community Church at Mapua and the Honest Lawyer at Monaco. There had been self-evacuations of about 20 to 30 people from Collingwood, Mapua and Ruby Bay, and people had also been evacuated from Monaco.
Tahuna Beach Holiday Park has started the clean up after sea water flooded its forecourt and left debris strewn across the park.
The motor camp, which sits along an estuary behind the main beach, saw the water come up over the road and car park, to its cafe deck.
'I've never seen it like this … it's quite amazing the power the sea has,' said holiday park manager, Marcel Fekkes.
The holiday park lost fences along the sea front, and part of a rock wall, but guests escaped flooding, with the cabin and motel units sitting on higher ground.
Just one awning of a caravan had been flooded.
About 10 campers had been moved into cabins.
Fekkes said the sea came in very quickly.
'We saw it coming up at about 10:30 am, and that was when the wind started to get more intense.
'It was amazing, and it just kept going.'
The water also receded quickly after high tide, just before 11:30 am, leaving much of the campground strewn with debris.
Nelmac had already cleared away six truckloads on Thursday afternoon, with about 15 more truck loads ready to be taken away.
Fekkes anticipated it would take a week or two to clean up.
ROADS CLOSED AS WAVES CRASH
All coastal routes were affected by storm surges, Tasman District Council said.
Dramatic video showed cars trying to navigate Rocks Rd just before it was shut.
While waves were crashing over Rocks Rd, at about 10.30am, a person inside a taxi reportedly had a seizure, police said. St John Ambulance shift manager Debbie Clark said they were called to the incident but didn't have to transport the person to Nelson Hospital
Rocks Road remained open to heavy vehicles. The closure affected Russell St to the lights at Tahunanui. 'Our contractors liaised directly with police, and the decision was made jointly to close the road to light vehicles at 10am,' NZTA spokesman Andrew Knackstedt said.
In Golden Bay, the tide was coming over the road in Rototai, Collingwood and Pohara to Tarakohe and Ligar Bay.
Takaka Hill was closed between Riwaka Valley Road and Aaron Creek Road, due to fallen trees. Motorists were being told turn back, expect long delays and be aware of power lines. At 2.30pm, it was re-opened to one lane.
Abel Tasman Drive was also closed at the Pohara Band Rotunda due to flooding.
Stafford Drive in Mapua was closed from Pinehill Rd to the Ruby Bay Bluffs. Lower Queen Street in Richmond was also closed between McShane Rd to Lansdowne Rd.
A police media centre spokeswoman said a vehicle was partly hanging in the river at Blackbyre Rd, off the Appleby Highway in Tasman. No one was in the vehicle.
Inspector Tony Hill, Acting Tasman District Commander said police were recommending that people take extreme care when travelling on the Coastal Highway between Greymouth and Westport, as a number of trees have come down.
'The weather is making driving conditions extremely difficult and we're urging people to stay off the roads unless travel is absolutely necessary,' he said. 'If you do need to travel, please drive to the conditions – watch your speed and following distances.'
Tasman District Council community relations manager Chris Choat said at midday that the tides were beginning to subside and the surge beginning to drop, but 'we are still warning people to take care. There's going to be a lot of water around.'
FLIGHTS WERE PAUSED
Flights were delayed. cancelled or diverted at Nelson airport after a nearby stream burst its banks, flooding the airport's access road.
Radio New Zealand reported that some of the airport's buildings were damaged.
Nelson Airport CEO Rob Evans said that the access road leading to the airport was flooded.
'Some people were stuck inside the terminal while some could not get into it. The tide has now receded and the terminal is now open and the car park too.'
At 12, Nelson airport staff were slowly letting people in and out of the airport. About 30 centimetres of water was still on the airport access road, but the water was subsiding quickly.
'We are currently reviewing our flight operations and hope to start our schedule shortly,' Evans said.
Updates would be posted on the airport's Facebook page.
CIVIL DEFENCE CENTRE ACTIVATED
Nelson City Council said the Nelson Tasman Civil Defence Group Emergency Operations Centre at Richmond had been activated in response to the weather.
Council spokesperson Paul Shaddock said this was different to a state of emergency, as the centre's role was to determine the extent of the event.
The centre was monitoring the situation and liaising with the councils, DHBs and emergency services, he said.
Road closure updates could be found on the councils' Facebook pages.
One of the main central city car parks in Nelson was flooded with knee high water on Thursday morning.
The low-lying Wakatu Square car park often floods during king tides, as sea water comes up through the drains. But Nelson City Council said it was an unusual weather event.
'People that have been working for the council for more than 30 years have never seen a storm surge that high,' spokesman Paul Shaddock said.
The tide level was about 50 cm higher than expected, he said. The water subsided quickly.
The council didn't shut the car park in advance, despite forecasts of king tides culminating with heavy rain and gales force winds, because it had put out plenty of warnings, Shaddock said.
'Signage was put up prior to the event, and we'd warned people on social media about the likelihood that car parks would be flooded.' The council would be assessing what had happened.
Nelson coastguard president Wayne Harrison said they hadn't had any call outs but were doing a patrol around the harbour to look for any damage.
He said one of the coastguard volunteers had been at the Honest Lawyer at Monaco to help the Surf Life Saving members with radio control.
Harrison said a yacht with no one on board had come off its mooring at the height of the storm and drifted through the channel to Tahunanui beach.
Tasman district Council said roadside rubbish and recycling services were suspended and the rubbish tips at Richmond and Mariri were also closed. They will re-evaluate the closures at 2pm.
The first day of the Nelson Buskers Festival was cancelled due to the stormy weather. The shows over the next few days should go ahead as scheduled.
RAINFALL, KING TIDE AND SWELL
Metservice meteorologist Lisa Murray said heavy rainfall combined with the king tide, gale-force winds and a significant ocean swell resulted in Thursday morning's storm surge.
A 4.5 metre tide was forecast for 11.22am in Nelson and more than 100 millimetres of rain fell in the Western Ranges on Thursday morning, with 12.2 mm was recorded in central Nelson.
Murray said the Wairoa River, like others in the region, had difficulty during king tides as the water at the mouth of the river had nowhere to go. Combined with that, there was a four-metre swell coming from the north into Tasman Bay.
'On top of that, you have really strong northerly winds, so you are going to get wind waves as well.'
The Nelson station reported a wind gust of 91 kilometres per hour on Thursday morning.
Murray said there was more rain forecast about the ranges on Thursday. Later in the evening, the wind would change to become westerly.