State of emergency lifted after ‘profoundly damaging event’ smashes rainfall records

Monday, 7 July 2025

The state of emergency has been lifted in Nelson Tasman after record rainfall brought severe floods to the area.

Hydrologists said 27 sites across Tasman and Nelson recorded their highest June total rainfall on record. Many sites logged record-breaking 48-hour duration rainfall totals during the event that caused the flooding.

In Marlborough, Blenheim also recorded its wettest June ever recorded, and the second wettest month overall in 96 years of data collection. A staggering 129.8mm fell between June 26 and 29, contributing to the widespread flooding.

Tasman mayor Tim King gave notice at 10.30am Monday that Nelson Tasman would move from a state of emergency into a recovery focus.

The Notice of Local Transition period under the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002 ends on August 4, unless it is extended or ends before then.

Given the flood was the biggest in Motueka since 1877, the township had dodged a bullet in that its stopbanks held. Had the rain extended into catchments south east of Brightwater, the Wairoa, Lee, Aniseed and Maitai rivers, it would have been a far more significant event, he said.

But that was of no comfort to those who were impacted in the Wai-iti, Motupiko, Upper Motueka and Motueka catchments, from whom this was an “enormous event that would take considerable time to recover from”.

In terms of the Motueka catchment, a consistent level of rain around or above 200mm fell in “pretty much every part” of the catchment at the same time.

King said with warmer ocean temperatures, the current weather pattern may lead to an extended wet period - “hence some of the urgency around river repairs, which will be impacted by medium and longer term forecasts”.

King said the biggest challenge would likely be restoring river assets, river protections and making decisions around the river space.

However, there was also the roading network to contend with, and private land, orchards, businesses, hop gardens, pastoral farmers, lifestyle blocks and homes that were affected.

He acknowledged the contribution the community had made in response to the event, which had been “phenomenal”, and encouraged people who were able to donate to the mayoral relief fund.

Nelson Tasman Civil Defence said there were 13 yellow stickered homes and one red in Tasman, and two yellow stickered homes in Nelson.

Nelson mayor Nick Smith was encouraged by the shift to the transition period, and said the timing was right to lift the State of Emergency and move to the transition phase.

The event had hit Tasman much harder than Nelson, but with the Rocks Rd State Highway 6 now open, Nelson was back to normal and open for business, he said.

The recovery work for Nelson’s neighbours in Tasman was “going to be long and hard, as it was for Nelson from the August 2022 event”.

Smith said there were still risks for Nelson from any future heavy rainfall with the ground being so sodden, particularly from landslips.

“We will need to be vigilant and keep a close eye on weather forecasts.“

Group recovery manager Steve Manners would now assume responsibility for the local transition period.

Rainfall records smashed

Meanwhile, Tasman District Council hydrologists said multiple sites across the region recorded record rainfall for the month of the rain event.

Twenty-seven rain gauge sites across Tasman and Nelson recorded their highest June total rainfall on record.

Two of these sites were the longest running in the Tasman region, at Riwaka at Moss Bush and Moutere at Kellings Rd, where data started in the early 1960s, the hydrology team said in a post.

The recent prolonged rainfall event also saw many sites log record-breaking 48-hour duration rainfall totals.

Data from river gauges in the lower Motueka River at both the Woodstock and Woodmans flow recorded a 1% AEP (Annual Exceedance Probability), or a 100-year-flood.

The Woodstock recorder had been operating since 1969, and this was the largest flow that it had ever recorded, exceeding the previous largest in 1983.

The weather event took a “major toll on people, property and infrastructure”, the team said, and damage had been “extensive”.

Photographs shared by the council showed some of the scale of the damage across the region, now in the recovery phase, although this was not expected to be a short or simple process.

Throughout the region’s roading network, at least 65 closures were reported in the days after the initial rainfall, and there was damage to seven bridges.

Sections of state highways were also affected, cutting off the Nelson Tasman region and requiring long detours for some journeys.

On June 27, most of the council’s rain gauge sites recorded more than 100mm, with data collected in the 48 hours to Sunday, June 29 showing more than 300mm falling in the Tākaka and Aorere Valleys of Golden Bay.