2 days ago
Civil defence meeting held after biggest flood in Ngātīmoti since 1877
More than 60 residents turned up to a Nelson Tasman Civil Defence meeting at the Ngātīmoti Memorial Hall on Saturday afternoon.
The Ngātīmoti Memorial Hall.
Photo:
RNZ / Marika Khabazi
They had questions for officials about where they could dump waste, silt and sand, who they could to talk to about getting their driveways cleared to reinstate access, the risk of drinking water contamination and whether rates relief was possible.
More than 60 residents turned up to the Civil Defence meeting at the Ngātīmoti Memorial Hall.
Photo:
RNZ / Marika Khabazi
Patrick Shortley has lived in the vallley for 35 years and said the recent flooding saw water reach "extraordinarily high" levels, with several homes flooded and many properties damaged.
"The loss of infrastructure obviously is significant, but I feel for the people whose homes have been inundated.
"It's the things that have no monetary value, the family photo album that got soaked, or the pet dog or cat or horse or whatever that didn't make it through."
He said the extent of the damage across the district had not yet been fully assessed.
Ngātīmoti resident and Motueka Valley Association member Patrick Shortley.
Photo:
RNZ / Marika Khabazi
Shortley facilitates the Motueka Valley Association, a community group that covers the area between the the Baton Bridge to the south and the Alexander Bluff Bridge to the north, including the east and west banks of the Motueka River and its tributaries.
He said many people were affected by the flood and, for a few, it was "bordering on catastrophic".
"There's a bit of grieving to be done and a lot of recovery work that's going to take some time to complete, both the physical recovery, I think, and also the emotional recovery."
An area affected by the Motueka Valley flood.
Photo:
RNZ / Marika Khabazi
He was fortunate to live far enough away from the river that he wasn't directly affected.
"I've met with most of my immediate neighbours. We all sat around and had a beer the other night, and we talked about the flood and whether it was the biggest one.
"People were talking about whether it was a 40-year flood or a 100-year flood. I don't think it makes much difference, they're just numbers.
"It's a pretty major significant event here."
Photo:
RNZ / Marika Khabazi
He was confident those in the Motueka Valley could support each other through the recovery.
"We've got a long job ahead of us to support those people... but we're a resilient community, we can do it."
Nelson Tasman Civil Defence controller Rob Smith.
Photo:
RNZ / Marika Khabazi
Nelson Tasman Civil Defence controller Rob Smith said the flood was the biggest since 1877, when a hole was put in a rock up near Ngātīmoti after the floods. This week's deluge was up to a plaque placed there.
He said said full recovery costs would take time to work out, but government support would be needed to help with the years-long clean-up.
"A lot of the landowners in the Motueka particularly went through the 1983 flood, so they know the time that that took to recover from," he said. "That was a big valley-floor flood.
"This was half a metre to a metre higher. This was a much bigger flood."
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