Dramatic rescues as Tasman swamped by swollen rivers amid state of emergency

Friday, 27 June 2025

Aimee Jules captured this footage of flooding in Ngātīmoti, in the Motueka Valley, on Friday.

“It’s like nothing we have ever seen before.”

Nelson Surf Life Saving Club head of Search and Rescue and Swift Water Rescue Jayd Cosmatos spent all of Friday rescuing people and animals using a boat in Motueka, as flooding made roads “impassable”.

A state of emergency was declared in Nelson and Tasman after torrential rain overnight Thursday/Friday saw residents evacuated by boat, winched from a trapped vehicle and cut off in their homes by raging rivers.

The top of the south has been hammered by heavy rain, with roads across the region under water.

Cosmatos was based in Motueka, and said there were also teams deployed in Wakefield and Tapawera.

The township of Tapawera, 76km southwest of Nelson, was threatened on Friday afternoon from a swollen Motueka River that was reaching close to one in 50-year flood levels.

A man was rescued from the roof of his vehicle in floodwaters in the Motueka Valley around 4.40pm after more than an hour of being stranded along with his two dogs.

A FENZ spokesperson said a specialist water rescue team also responded to the incident. A rescue helicopter winched the man and his dogs aboard. He was taken to Nelson Hospital.

Tasman District Council staff check the Waimea River at Appleby.

His vehicle was stranded south of Woodstock after floodwaters spilled onto the road, the spokesperson said.

Following heavy rain there were also evacuations throughout the day in the Motueka, Moutere and Brightwater areas, with many residents deciding to seek safety themselves.

Tapawera was hit hard as the swollen Motueka River flooded farmland and part of the town.

Flooding at a property Korere, in Tapawera

Those areas received around 80mm of rain in 12 hours on Friday - on top of previous falls - turning rivers into torrents.

On Friday afternoon at 3pm, an emergency mobile alert was issued to the Tapawera and the Tadmor Valley areas recommending residents get to higher ground immediately as flooding was set to worsen in the area.

Nelson Tasman regional public information manager Paul Shattock said the Motueka and Tadmor rivers had been rising quickly and further flooding was likely.

“We’re recommending that people evacuate the area, if possible. Make sure that you go to higher ground, stay with friends and family, and if it's safe to do so.”

There was also space at the Tapawera Area School available, he said. In a notice to residents, Tasman District Council said it has shut down the Tapawera water treatment plant after heavy rain caused turbidity levels in the groundwater to exceed treatable levels. With only 8–10 hours of reservoir supply remaining, residents were being urged to conserve water.

Flooding on Waimea West Rd Appleby in the Tasman district on Friday morning.

Tapawera Volunteer Fire Brigade deputy fire chief Mike Oakly said at 4pm the Motueka River was slowly subsiding but the flow was picking up which was a concern.

Some water was flowing into the main village at Tapawera after part of the stop bank was breached, and around a dozen properties were affected. There had been three or four voluntary evacuations in the area.

“I’ve been here 17 years, and this is the worst I have ever seen,” Oakly said.

Flooding seen over Brightwater, south of Nelson on Friday morning.

The scene on Friday morning at the Appleby Recreation Reserve near Richmond.

A Swift Water Rescue team arrived in the area just after 3pm, and police were also stationed there.

The river was flowing behind the stop banks for about 2km, Oakly said.

Oakly said the community was positive, and neighbours had been checking in on each other.

A Tapawera resident, who did not want to be named, said people in the area were on edge as floodwaters continued to rise.

“We’re sitting here chewing the fat and deciding whether to evacuate,” they said. “We’re three metres higher than Tapawera School, which is already flooded. It’s come across the road.”

“It’s all very fine saying to go to higher ground, but we can’t go anywhere because the roads are closed. We’re stuffed,” they said. “It seemed like the water was dropping, but more rain is setting in.”

The flooded Brook Stream, Nelson at the closed Manuka St.

The fenced duck pond in Washbourne Gardens in central Richmond is completely covered by flood waters and flooding at the back of Feary Crescent, in Tākaka. A view from Motueka resident overlooking Alexander Bluff Bridge, showing extensive flooding,

As they were speaking, they described helicopters flying low through the valley and emergency vehicles arriving in town. “There goes the police, lights flashing. It’s just getting sadder by the hour.”

The resident said nearby families in Motupiko and Korere had already been evacuated. “Friends were in tears this morning, leaving their pets behind in a trailer on a tractor. They’re just one family—we know there will be more.”

Tasman mayor Tim King made the emergency declaration at 9.50am on Friday. He asked that those evacuated seek assistance from friends or family first.

But a Civil Defence Centre was set up at the Motueka Recreation Centre in Old Wharf Road. A community led centre was also set up at the Moutere Hills Community Centre on the Moutere Highway.

A Fire and Emergency (FENZ) spokesperson said crews had responded to 31 calls since 4am on Friday, including surface flooding, trees down, assisting with evacuations and pumping water from flooded homes.

FENZ response co-ordinator Steve Trigg said a Specialist Water Rescue Team had rescued a person from a vehicle in Upper Moutere on Friday morning. Other local brigades had helped with rescues.

NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi urged drivers to avoid affected areas and check for updates before travelling.

A four wheel drive vehicle drives through surface flooding near the Maitai River in the Maitai Valley, Nelson, during a heavy rain event across the upper South Island.

Nelson was effectively cut off by floodwaters for a time on Friday, with State Highway 60 closed from Richmond to Collingwood, State Highway 6 shut from Richmond to Belgrove, State Highway 6 closed between Havelock and Hira and State Highway 63 closed from Renwick to Saint Arnaud.

The Nelson-Blenheim and Richmond-Collingwood highways were reopened before 5pm. But the highway from Belgrove to Quinney’s Bush was expected to remain closed into Saturday due to fallen trees, flooding, and a slip on Spooners Hill.

Tasman District Council communications manager Chris Choat said access was being closed to Jensens Bridge on Kerr Hill Road in Golden Downs late on Friday.

Motorists were being stopped at the turnoff from St Arnaud and from 88 Valley Rd.

In a statement just before 1pm, police were asking spectators to avoid the Motueka River area near Ngatimoti where emergency services had the road blocked off.

Press newspaper delivery contractor Tony Gillian discovers flooding scenes while out on the job at the Kaiteriteri turnoff on Friday morning.

A swollen Waimea River, off River Rd in Appleby.

Nelson mayor Nick Smith was at the joint Nelson/Tasman Emergency Management Centre where the formal state of emergency was declared.

He said the rivers most under pressure were Moutere and Waiiti in Tasman, both experiencing a one in 50-year event.

Smith said the greatest risk for Nelson was landslides with sodden land and further rain forecast. There had been one evacuation in Nelson and several dozen in Tasman.

He said he had spoken to Minister of Emergency Management Mark Mitchell who had travelled to Marlborough where a state of emergency was also declared.

The weather has also forced the closure of multiple schools across Tasman and Golden Bay, and the Stuff Tasman Trophy women’s final, set to be played between Kahurangi and Waimea at Cooks Reserve in Riwaka on Saturday has been postponed until next Saturday.

In Nelson, schools remained open but only if students could get there safely.

A number of early childhood education centres across the wider region were also closed.

Nelson Mail delivery driver Tony Gillan was stuck in Tākaka after trying to deliver the paper to Kaiteriteri.

He left from Richmond, Nelson in the early hours of Friday morning but couldn’t make it to Kaiteriteri due to flooding on the Riwaka bridge. He said a car was already submerged, and trees had fallen across the road.

Parked up at the Collingwood Cafe in Tākaka, he said he had debris in his delivery van from the flooding.

“There’s two big slips on Tākaka hill and several bits of flooding along the way, but we managed to get The Press through to Takaka this morning.

“It’s absolutely horrendous, it’s ferocious, treacherous.”

He said he was stuck in Tākaka until the slips on the hill had been cleared and the road back to Nelson was open.