Updated at 4.54pm:
Rain has eased over most of the Tasman district this afternoon but a heavy rain watch remains in place across the region until 9am on Saturday.
Residents in Tapawera and Tadmor Valley have this afternoon been told to evacuate due to flooding from the Motueka River and Tadmor River on top of previous evacuations in Brightwater, Riwaka and Moutere.
State Highway 6 from Quinney's Bush (near Kohatu) to Belgrove remains closed and is expected to remain so overnight due to fallen trees, flooding, and a slip on Spooners Hill, says NZTA. Contractors are working to clear these.
But SH6 from Hira to Rai Valley is now open, as is SH6 from Richmond to Belgrove.
State Highway 60 between Richmond and Collingwood is also now open, but with one localised closure in place from the Motueka River Bridge to Riwaka/Kaiteriteri Road.
The 'heavy rain watch' issued by the Metservice is a downgrade from the 'orange heavy rain warning' that had been in place until 3pm today.
MetService says the worst of the heavy rain band that's been hammering the top of the South Island is moving away, but rain will continue to fall.
MetService meteorologist Katie Hillyer told RNZ that although the rain warning for Nelson and Marlborough was lifted at 3pm this afternoon, there's more rain to come, with some potentially heavy showers tonight.
"The region is still going to see some showers, some potentially heavy tonight, that will slow the clearing of that flood water."
The weather in the worst hit regions is forecast to clear up by Sunday afternoon.
Marlborough's Rai Valley had recorded between 250 and 280 millimetres of rain in the past 48 hours.
Nelson had recorded just over 100mm of rainfall in the last 48 hours, most of it in the last day, while other parts of the region have had 150mm or so.
Fire and Emergency NZ says landslides remain a risk and urges people to be careful.
"Heavy rain can cause sloping ground to become unstable. Rocks, soil or vegetation can fall down a slope, or the land itself can slip.
"Be especially alert when driving because embankments along roadsides are particularly prone to landslides. Watch the road ahead for collapsed areas, mud, fallen rocks, and other indications of a possible debris flow. Never drive through a landslide, even if it looks small."
Health NZ says floodwaters can be contaminated with germs which could make people unwell and to keep yourself safe people should wash hands with soap and warm water and dry well after touching flood water or anything it has touched.
They also urge people to wash hands before making food or eating; disinfect surfaces and kitchen utensils or equipment that came into contact with floodwater; not eat garden produce if soil was flooded and not to collect and eat shellfish from the river mouth or harbour after a flood.
Update 1.52pm:
Heavy flooding has affected much of the Tasman district today with evacuations, road closures and damage to property.
A State of Emergency was declared in Nelson Tasman earlier this morning by Tasman Mayor Tim King.
He said with further rainfall forecast, the declaration will enable a rapid response from partnering agencies should it be required.
Evacuations have occurred in the Riwaka, Moutere and Brightwater areas.
"River levels are high, and localised downpours could raise water levels higher, which could trigger the need for further evacuations," says Tim.
Major roads are closed including State Highway 6 between Hira and Rai Valley; SH60 between Richmond and Collingwood; SH63 between Renwick and St Arnaud; SH6 between Kohatu and Richmond.
The Motueka Bridge is closed but some cars are still crossing at their own risk.
Police are urging people not to travel on the roads unless necessary.
Metservice says an orange warning remains in place for the Nelson District until 3pm today with a "low chance of upgrading to a red warning".
Update from Tasman Mayor Tim King, 1pm:
Tasman mayor Tim King said the situation across the district in the early afternoon was similar as it had been most of the morning with extensive surface flooding and many road closures.
The areas most heavily impacted were largely constrained to the Moutere-Waimea and Motueka wards with communities like Brightwater, Wakefield, Lower and Upper Moutere, and Riwaka most heavily affected.
“[It’s] certainly more widespread than what we’ve had over the last few years, where they’ve been really, really isolated to specific parts.”
However, there were still “vast parts” of the region which hadn’t been badly affected, such as Richmond, Golden Bay, and southern Tasman.
King said it was a concern the region was cut-off from the rest of the South Island – SH6 and SH63 to Marlborough are closed, as is SH6 to Murchison and SH60 to Golden Bay – but added it was something residents had become used to.
“It’s one of the things that we always have to be really aware of, that we’re very reliant on only a couple of road corridors, and they all can be reasonably easily compromised by flood events.”
He said the response to the event was going “pretty well” but it was “uncommon” to have so many people caught out on the roads and there would likely be a debrief after the storm.
“I suspect that’s largely because a lot of those smaller areas and streams and catchments have been the ones affected, as opposed to the major roads. That’ll certainly be something for us to think about.”
Tim thanked those involved in the response as well as the wider community “for doing what they always do in these events: getting on and either helping themselves or helping their neighbours”.
Specialist Water Rescue Team deployed, 11.54am:
Fire and Emergency has deployed a specialist water rescue team as it responds to people being trapped in cars on flooded roads.
Response Coordinator Steve Trigg says crews are rescuing people trapped in vehicles, assisting with evacuations and pumping water from flooded homes. As at 11.15am they have responded to 31 calls since 4am today.
Two Fire and Emergency Specialist Water Rescue Teams have been deployed to Nelson and Blenheim. They are providing additional support to local brigades.
Fire and Emergency has activated its Local Coordination Centre in Nelson to coordinate its response activities across the whole top of the South area.
Steve Trigg is warning people not to drive through floodwater and to respect all "road closed" signs. "It’s impossible to judge the depth of the water so when people become stranded they are in danger of drowning."
The Specialist Water Rescue Team has already undertaken a rescue from a vehicle in Upper Moutere this morning while other rescues around the top of the South have been carried out by local brigades.
Ute crashes near Dovedale, 12.50pm:
The sole occupant of a ute that crashed on a road near Dovedale this morning is okay.
Police say they were notified at around 9:20am of a vehicle that had slipped down a road washout.
"Sole occupant of the vehicle was okay and received no injuries."
Evacuation update at 10.30am:
Nelson Tasman Civil Defence and Emergency Management public information manager told the Nelson App that FENZ coordinated some evacuations earlier in the morning.
The evacuations were primarily around Brightwater and the Moutere when floodwaters were rising and, while he wasn’t aware of further evacuations since, some residents had self-evacuated.
“That’s actually something we encourage. If people are feeling unsafe, then definitely self evacuate, just to make sure you’re safe.”
Paul says the entire district had been affected, but adds that the areas that’s being watched closest were communities along the Motueka River, specifically Riwaka, Brooklyn, and Tapawera.
“Golden Bay is managing at the moment. It’s more that other area of Tasman which we’re really keeping an eye on. Nelson seems to be okay at the moment, which is good.”
The key message to residents was to avoid unnecessary travel, and avoid floodwaters which might be contaminated, hide obstructions, or damage adjacent properties when driven through.
Paul tells residents who live next to smaller waterways to be prepared.
“If we have those localized heavy rainfalls, those streams and rivers can rise really quickly, so people just need to be prepared.”
He says the front of the storm continues to track over the region.
“Fingers crossed the worst is passed us, but there’s that chance of localized thunderstorms and downpours, which we're worried about... it’s a bit of a watch and see this one.”
Paul adds that the state of emergency which has been declared gives Civil Defence powers to ensure people are safe and conduct evacuations if needed.
He thanked residents who were following directions and keeping the roads clear.
Police plea:
Police request the public to restrict any unnecessary travel in the Nelson Bays area.
"Especially avoid: Belgrove, Wakefield, Brightwater, Richmond, Whakatu Drive, Appleby, Redwood, Riwaka.
"In extreme conditions, please limit yourself to essential travel only, ensure you have had your brakes and windscreen wipers checked.
"Reducing speed, using headlights and watching your visibility will also ensure a safe trip."
Roads (updated at 11.45am):
Multiple state highway closures remain in place across the top of the South Island as heavy rain and flooding continues to affect the region.
Highway closures:
Mark Owen, of NZTA, says the closures are necessary to keep people safe.
“States of Emergency have been declared in Nelson City, Tasman District, and the Blenheim Ward in Marlborough. That shows how serious the situation is.
“It is critical people stay off closed roads. Disobeying closures puts yourself and others at risk,” Mark says.
He says work is ongoing across the network to assess the flooding and damage it has caused.
“We know people want to know when roads will reopen, but we can only do this when it is safe to do so. We will provide updates as the situation changes.”
“It is too soon to quantify how much damage the bad weather has caused. That will be assessed once this weather has passed and we move from a response to recovery approach,” Mark says.
In the meantime, Mark says people should continue to check weather and road condition updates, as well as information provided by local councils and Civil Defence.
“Local authorities and agencies are working closely on this and doing their best to get information out as quickly as possible. Make sure you follow their updates.”
The following roads are closed:
Schools closed:
A number of schools are closed for today. Hieke Nelson Principals’ Association says that, due to significant flooding across the region, the following schools have closed.
Appleby School, Brightwater School, Brooklyn School, Central Tākaka School, Dovedale School, Golden Bay High School, Hope School, Lower Moutere School, Mahana School, Motupipi School, Ngatimoti School, Parklands School, Riwaka School, Tākaka Primary School, Tapawera Area School, Upper Moutere School, Wakefield School.
Sport cancellations:
All football, rugby and netball that was due to be played on Saturday has been cancelled, including the Tasman Trophy rugby semi finals that were due to take place Saturday afternoon.
Buses:
Nelson City Council says eBus R5 Motueka and R6 Wakefield have been suspended for the day due to flooding and road closures. Due to the Three Brothers roundabout being flooded, the Route 2 eBus will start and stop at the Richmond Interchange, and the stops on Wensley Road and Bateup Road are closed.
Civil Defence Centres:
A Civil Defence centre has been setup at Motueka Recreation Centre. A community centre has been opened by the community at the Moutere Hills Community Centre. If you are evacuated, or can not travel to your destination, then you can go to these locations.
District wide conserve water notice:
Tasman District Council says the heavy rain has affected the quality of the source water supplying some council water supplies.
"In some cases our treatment plants may not be able to adequately treat this low quality water if the rain continues. In addition, the rainfall may cause damage and power outages that could affect our ability to supply water."
"We ask all customers on Council water supplies conserve water wherever possible until further notice.
"Reducing demand will help ensure that we do not have to supply water that may not have received adequate treatment and that we have sufficient water in storage reservoirs to continue supply if damage or other issues occur."
Article by Nelson App reporters Elise Vollweiler/Max Frethley/Andrew Board/Kate Russell/Sara Hollyman/Eloise Martyn/Kate Russell
