Richmond Residents caught up in the Last Night of the storm

Where Reservoir Creek crossed Hill St Richmond - it took all day just to clean the road but residents here have a terrible mess to clean-up

 

21 Aug

With the ground already saturated it was Richmond that received the final devastation of the storm in the early hours of Saturday morning 20 August. It had been raining constantly in Richmond for days like the rest of flood-stricken Tasman, Nelson, Marlborough and Buller.

The amount of water last night was too much for the ranges behind Richmond to hold. 

Residents have been evacuated from homes after two creeks in the area turned into rivers after a second dose of heavy rainfall overnight.

 Creeks turned into rivers over night Hill St., Richmond Tasman

Occupants of around 10 homes in the Hill St area of Richmond, Tasman, were asked to evacuate early in the morning, Nelson Tasman Civil Defence public information manager Chris Choat said.

"The evacuations essentially have come from ... Reservoir Creek, which used to wend its way lovingly down between houses.

"It broke its banks and just went straight down."

Many other house owners in the area had parts of their homes affected and gardens destroyed by the overflowing creeks.

The second flood for Residents on Hill St to cope with on Saturday.

Police, Fire and Emergency, and contractors came to residents' aid and work was now being done to try realign the Reservoir Creek and stop further water coming down, Choat said.

Further down Hill St, towards the southern end, a further creek overflowed into properties and onto the Street after a slip high up in the rangers behind Hillplough Heights.

Rocks, mud, a massive stream of water and forest debris all came down leaving a devastating mess to be cleaned up. Residents and people just coming to help were out later in the morning trying to clean up.

A terrible slip in the hills behind Richmond for Residents to cope with

Civil Defence Nelson Tasman said on Facebook on Saturday morning there'd now been 508 homes evacuated since the floods began, with evacuations up by about 100 overnight, and many roads around the region are closed.

Also in Richmond overnight flooding took place in Washbourn Gardens leaving flower beds washed out, the duck pond at the bottom of a large deep oval area made to collect flood water was destroyed. The flood water over flowed this area washing through the garden car park and further on behind the Tasman District Council building down into Oxford St, Richmond leaving debris everywhere.

Part of Washbourn Gardens Richmond. The duck pond has gone.

The area affected by flooding had broadened thanks to the overnight rain, Civil Defence Nelson Tasman said on Facebook.

"That includes the Cannan-Upper Takaka area and the Richmond ranges from Wairoa to Hira. There's lots of surface water in both Nelson, Richmond, Brightwater and the rest of Tasman.

Many residents will not be able to return home because of the devastating effects of the flood waters and slips. Crop growers and farmers throughout the region have had crops destroyed and pasture ruined plus farmers are finding it hard to manage their stock.

The $200,000 grant by the Government to the mayoral fund is a terrible insult and so are statements like one in a hundred year event. Speak to any person in Golden Bay or the West Coast and they will tell you they are having these events every three years or less.

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