When the storm hit Granity, the West Coast town being eaten alive

Thursday, 1 February 2018

Coastal inundation in the Granity, Hector, Ngakawau and Westport areas on Thursday after ex-tropical cyclone Fehi hit the West Coast of the South Island. (First published February 2018)

Granity, a tiny town on the West Coast already being chipped away at by the encroaching sea, has been hammered by the storm, with properties inundated by seawater and residents retreating to Westport.

Video from Granity and nearby towns Hector and Ngakawau shows flooded seaside properties, waves smashing into the shore and debris floating down roads that look more like rivers.

Howie Wilson filmed that video. He lives just north of Westport and drove north to Karamea and back on Thursday morning when he saw the flooding in the area.

Two or three houses had water right around them and potentially inside.

'Water had been washing right up and doing quite a bit of damage there. It's been pretty hectic…

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A home completely encircled due to coastal inundation. Seawater got as far as the road and paddocks behind waterfront properties in the Granity area.

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'What has happened is the sea and the waves have [washed away] a temporary stop bank that people have been building. It's happened before but not this serious.

A house surrounded by water after storm surges brought waves up past the beach in the Granity area on Thursday.

'Waves were crashing up and right into the back of those houses, bringing up debris, logs, coastal trees, flaxes - they are all getting ripped up and and crashing into properties.

Wilson said two or three houses had water right around them and potentially inside.

Flooding in the back yard of a home in the Granity area.

Sea water made it to the road roughly following the coast line.

To do so, it had travelled several metres up the beach from the high tide mark, up an embankment and through 40 to 50 metres of properties.

Howie Wilson drove to Karamea and back from Westport on Thursday and documented the impact of the storm.

'It's not like a tsunami - it's the combination of the king tide and the storm,' Wilson said.

When he was in the area, he saw a woman he knew.

A flooded road and paddocks near Westport on Thursday.

'She said '60 years I have been living here and I have never seen the sea do what it has done today'.'

Others from the area had been out inspecting the damage.

While the towns had experienced similar situations before, Wilson said: 'This might be the last for some of them.'

While the water had receded by mid-afternoon, there were concerns the same issue would repeat about midnight when it was high tide again.

There was also inundation in Westport where houses and a high school had been evacuated, Wilson said.

'We have just been lucky that the Buller River wasn't flooding at the same time as this.'

That could have made the situation worse, he said.

Near Snodgrass Road - near where he lived - Wilson estimated two metres of farmland had been cut away at the beach by the sea.

It left behind a two to three-metre high bank on the whole beach, he said.

HEADING FOR SAFETY

Phil Perrott owns Miners on Sea - accommodation and a bar - in Granity.

He had to abandon his property when the storm hit and take refuge in a motel in Westport. But he had to wait to get there - the tide was so high it had cut access to the Granity area.

The inundation from the storm was expected, he said.

'It's probably the worst we have seen it happen, it's just one of those freaks of nature that happens and the sea comes in and done a lot of damage. It's certainly done a lot to our place and we've had to abandon it and head to town.

'There are plenty more houses up the road that will have been badly affected.'

His property hadn't been 'totally' damaged, but enough that the business couldn't function.

The sea had come right up through the waterfront property

Guests had been staying at the time and had to leave - now, bookings have to be cancelled for half of February, Perrott said - the busy season.

'It's a big hit for us.'

He wasn't sure of the exact cost of the storm but estimated it might be about $50,000 in repairs and lost income.

Perrott expected it would a week before he could move back to the property.

STATE OF EMERGENCY

Civil Defence said a local state of emergency was declared in Buller on Thursday afternoon in response to the severe weather.

Buller District Mayor Garry Howard said evacuations were under way in low-lying Ngakawau, Hector and Granity, all north of Westport.

It was too early to say how many had, or would be, evacuated, but it was likely dozens of homes had been affected, he said.

Some homes in Snodgrass, Carters Beach and northern Westport had also been badly flooded.

'They won't be residing in them tonight,' Howard said of the residents.

Search and Rescue, Civil Defence, the Department of Conservation and district council workers were doorknocking residents in affected areas and asking them to head to evacuation centres.

Howard said there were several residents who were trapped in homes surrounded by water.

Thursday evening's high tide was the 'biggest concern' for emergency services. Tidal surges would be affected by the wind and difficult to predict, Howard said.

'The water's going to be coming back [Thursday night] and there's very little we can do about that. Darkness makes our job that much harder.

'It's going to be a very interesting 24 hours.'