Nelson Tasman Civil Defence working to clear roads, assess and fix infrastructure and environmental damage, 3 July.
Photo: Nelson Tasman Civil Defence
Nelson Tasman Civil Defence is urging people to take care when they’re out assessing their properties for flood damage.
The region remains under a state of emergency after being battered by rain and flooding.
Crews have been out checking properties across the region with 42 staff on the ground around Brooklyn and Wakefield on Saturday to build a picture of what they needed.
Close to 650 properties have already been assessedwith 90 of them being provided with information to help them reach out for support.
One property has been red stickered, and another 13 have been yellow-stickered after floodwaters swept through them.
Response Controller Rob Smith said it would take time to work out the full recovery costs, but they would need to seek support from the government to help with the years-long cleanup.
“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. That was a big valley floor flood,” he said.
“This was half a metre to a metre higher. This was a much bigger flood.”
The horticulture and agriculture industries had been hit hard, with floodwaters tearing through properties, prime pasture and farmland, and leaving silt, muck and debris behind.
Flooding in the Tasman district has left a trail of muck and debris behind, 4 July 2025.
Photo: RNZ / Mark Papali
About 200mm fell over a 48 period across a broad part of the region, which then faced more rain this week.
Two community meetings were being held at Riwaka Memorial Hall and Ngātīmoti Hall on Saturday, so people knew who to contact for support and could speak directly to government services.
“We want to see it as a seamless response,” he said.
“This is not just a Nelson Tasman issue. This is important to the country, so trying to get people back on their feet as soon as possible.”
The ground was so saturated and unstable that people might notice ground cracks, movement or strange seeps, he said.
“Please be super careful out there, so the rivers have changed, the trees are piled on top of each other, there’s holes on the banks,” he said.
“So when you’re out and about, and we know … we encourage people to go out and sort their situation out, but just be super aware of your surroundings when you’re doing that.”
Photo: RNZ / Mark Papali
He encouraged affected residents to ask for help.
“We know our rural folk are really resilient, and they just got in and sorted stuff out. But it is actually ok to ask for help,” Smith said.
“You know that old maxim about ‘if you don’t ask, you don’t get’, there are opportunities out there to get support or to get noticed, so we really want people to do that.”
He wanted to thank the emergency services and many volunteers for stepping up and supporting the region and its communities.
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