Landslide blocks culvert, floods street in Nelson
Wednesday, 17 August 2022
A landslide has blocked a culvert at the top of a hill, sending a “river” down a road in Atawhai, Nelson.
Terra Firma engineering geologist Rob Hunter lives nearby and said it took minutes to go from a relatively normal street to a major flood
“I actually went out for a drive about 20 minutes earlier … got home and then the next minute I heard this rumble and looked outside and it was just a river.”
He said a landslide up the hill appeared to have blocked a culvert, diverting water onto the road. He said the hill was “pretty unstable as it is”, but a prolonged period of wet weather had made it worse.
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“A big chunk has just come away.”
He said as the water flowed you could hear rocks and debris flowing down the street.
Heavy rain from an “atmospheric river” has been falling in Nelson-Tasman since Tuesday evening and will continue until Thursday.
He said the suburb was new and well-designed, so the houses were safe and dry as water flowed down the street, but until the culvert was cleared anyone not at home would have trouble returning.
He said a digger from nearby Bayview subdivision was being used to try to clear the blocked culvert, but it would be a tricky job, with nowhere to put cleared debris and even if it was cleared it would likely be prone to fresh blockages.
The wet weather is forecast to continue for the next two or three days.
- Have you been affected by the weather? Send your photos, videos and newstips to newsdesk@nelsonmail.co.nz.