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Civil Defence warns Nelson-Tasman flood-affected residents to plan for the worst
Residents in the Tasman settlement of Brooklyn are being urged to evacuate immediately as the region braces for a new round of heavy rain.
Civil Defence said six homes in the low-lying community, which borders the Motueka River, have already been evacuated. Emergency managers have directly contacted affected residents, with some relocating to stay with friends or family and others provided with temporary accommodation.
The orders come as officials warn properties across Nelson-Tasman that flooded last week could be inundated again.
Civil Defence controller Alec Louverdis said plans were underway for the worst case scenario, with orange heavy rain warnings in place from early on Thursday morning.
He said people affected by flooding last week should make plans to stay elsewhere, as officials consider whether to order evacuations.
Louverdis warned the “serious” rain coming on top of the damage and flooding already around the region could pose a repeat of last week, despite the expected rain covering a much shorter time frame than the days of heavy rain that wreaked havoc on Friday and Saturday.
“The rivers are still high [and] they are flowing swiftly. They’ve carved out their new directions, there’s a high ground water table [and] everything’s absolutely wet,” Louverdis said.
“We don’t need a lot of rain to make the situation worse.”
An aerial view of the flooding in Tapawera. Photo: Supplied / Tapawera Volunteer Fire Brigade
No evacuation orders have been issued, but he advised those who had been already affected to plan for the worst and reach out to family, friends or Nelson-Tasman Civil Defence for accommodation.
“We have key staff and resources, we’ve mobilised the Defence Force, we’ve got special vehicles, helicopters, special river rescue groups from FENZ that are all on standby… We know where the hotspots are,” Louverdis said.
“We’re as prepared as we can be.”
The region is bracing for more heavy rain starting in the early hours of Thursday, with two MetService heavy rain warnings in place.
There’s an orange rain warning for the Tasman District north-west of Motueka beginning at 3am on Thursday, which forecasts 120 to 150mm of rain, but heavier falls of up to 200mm were possible in localised areas.
The warning for the rest of the Nelson-Tasman District south-east of Motueka, and Marlborough north of the Wairau River, expected 80 to 110mm of rain about the Sounds and ranges, and 50 to 80mm elsewhere between 6am and 9pm Thursday.
Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
Civil Defence will be keeping a close on eye on hotspots such as the Motupiko and Brooklands rivers, and townships including Tapawera and Riwaka, but Louverdis said everywhere that flooded last week was potentially at risk.
He was aware of 10 homes that had been yellow-stickered, and one that had been red-stickered so far.
Those numbers were significantly down on the numbers of homes that were uninhabitable or had access restricted following the 2022 Nelson floods, Louverdis said.
He could not confirm the number of homes that had sustained damaged but said it would be “in the hundreds”, and there was also substantial and extensive damage to land and infrastructure such as roads and bridges.
Another community meeting is planned for Motueka on Friday, but is yet to be confirmed.
Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
Lack of comms
Residents in Tasman shared concerns and frustrations at community meetings in the flooded region as it braced for more severe weather.
Some voiced anger at a lack of communication from authorities and telecommunications outages, while others were worried at the absence of evacuation centres as heavy rain approaches.
Pigeon Valley resident Kwinne Johnston said there were dozens of cars in floodwater outside her house on Friday. She called 111 but took matters into her own hands, directing traffic for hours.
Johnston said no one from Civil Defence or the council ever responded.
Group controller Alec Louverdis said Civil Defence was yet to get around all of those affected by last week’s flooding, but he said reinforcements had now arrived.
The chief executive of the Parliamentary Service is confident there will be enough room to accommodate the increased number of MPs and their staff coming into Parliament.
On current numbers, up to 131 MPs could be sitting in the Chamber following the election, brought on by a record overhang result.
Clerk of the House of Representatives Dr David Wilson told the Spinoff that currently the debating chamber had enough chairs to seat 124 MPs – including the Speaker of the House – and work was being done to accommodate more by altering the seating arrangement.
In a statement, Parliamentary Service chief executive Rafael Gonzalez-Montero said planning for a larger Parliament had been going for “some time”.
“Now that the election results have confirmed an increase to the number of members we are looking at several options.
“We are confident we will be able to accommodate all members within the Chamber.”
VNP / Phil Smith
Gonzalez-Montero said office accommodation for members and their staff would be “stretched” for a short time, but the new Members’ Building was only a few months away from “practical completion”.
That building – located behind Parliament – was due to be ready to occupy in April next year and had capacity to accommodate around 30 backbench MPs.
“All members should be in fit-for-purpose accommodation from that point,” Gonzalez-Montero said.
Following the 2023 election, 123 MPs sat in the Chamber – a record number at the time. That decreased to 122 following the resignation of National MP Judith Collins.
Collins held the seat of Papakura and stepped down in May and Parliament voted against holding a by-election because it was too close to the election.
The election result also meant high-ranking National Party MPs like Chris Bishop, Paul Goldsmith, Nicola Willis and Gerry Brownlee – Speaker of the House and an MP for 30 years – would likely not make it back into Parliament.
Only resigning or retiring MPs were permitted to give a valedictory speech meaning none of them would get the chance to give a valedictory statement.
Asked if their would be special allowances for valedictories, Wilson said in a statement that normally only MPs were allowed to speak in the House but the House could suspend its own rules or temporarily alter them.
“It could do so to allow former members to address the House.”
Wilson said no such arrangements could be made until the next Parliament opened and members sworn in.
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