Nelson woman captures footage of waves rocking 4WD utility vehicle in Nelson

Thursday, 1 February 2018

Drivers on Rocks Rd in Nelson captured the moment massive waves crashed onto the road before it was closed to the public.

The last person to drive along a Nelson road before it was closed by flooding thought she was going to die after a wave crashed into her car.

Melissa Richards was driving to work along Rocks Rd in Nelson on Thursday morning when she noticed there was no-one driving behind her.

'I thought gosh, the roads are quite quiet,' she said.

Rocks Rd in Nelson is closed due to waves crashing over it.

The waves weren't that high until she turned a corner and saw a massive one hitting the 4WD ute in front of her, rocking it from side to side and pushing it towards the bank.

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She videoed the wave before the next one crashed into her car, shunting her across the road.

'I swivelled a bit, then another wave came,' she said.

'I was thinking I was going to die. I thought it was going to suck my car out.'

The ute in front of her pulled into a driveway for shelter and the driver told Richards they should keep going.

'I couldn't stop my legs shaking,' she said.

'I rang my husband and said 'I don't think I'm going to make it, I love you'.'

She drove back onto the road with the ute behind her, and the pair made it safely to Tahunanui.

The police officer told her she was lucky to be alive, Richards said.

Richards, who had lived in Nelson for five years, said she had never seen the tide as high.

The inside of her car was like a 'swimming pool', but she was safe, she said.

'I just feel sorry for the people in businesses, it's absolutely tragic.'

NZ Transport Agency was looking into why the road wasn't closed earlier.

All coastal routes were being affected by storm surges, Tasman district council says. It has activated its emergency operations centre at civil defence.

As the remnants of Tropical Cyclone Fehi reach the country, some places in the west of the South Island have already been getting rainfall rates of 18-20 millimetres an hour. A lot of rain has also been spilling over into Southland, Otago and South Canterbury.