An article just published by GeoNet:
Published: Sat Aug 20 2022 5:30 PM
Extreme rainfall has caused severe flooding and landslides (slips) across several parts of the country, particularly in the Nelson, Tasman, Marlborough, Wellington, and Northland regions. These have blocked and closed roads and impacted many homes.
What’s causing the landslides?
Severe rainfall around the country has saturated the ground and destabilised slopes. There’s potential for more landslides in the coming days as soils remain saturated.
We have more information on what causes landslides in New Zealand and how GeoNet responds to and monitors landslides in these videos:
How GeoNet monitors landslides and responds to them
Important information for those who have evacuated their homes
Many people have been asked to evacuate their homes by local emergency management because of devastating landslides that have occurred across the country, triggered by heavy rainfall.
If you’ve evacuated because of landslides, please do not re-enter your home until you are given the all-clear by your local authorities.
Slopes can remain unstable even after the worst of the weather has passed. Even with rain easing, the land and soil is still saturated, and floodwater continues to affect the land also.
It is important to remember that landslides are unpredictable and can be deadly. Waiting for proper geotechnical assessments of your homes before entering is vitally important.
The geotechnical teams on the ground are currently assessing homes affected by landslides, and they will let you know if it is safe to re-enter your home. This process can be slow depending on how many homes have been impacted, and it’s also determined by how much the land continues to move.
It is understandable that you would want to return to your home as quickly as possible, and our thoughts are with you during this very difficult time.
What can you do?
If you’ve been evacuated, continue to stay at your safe location until you have been given the all-clear to return home.
If you notice something different about your home, for example, the doors and windows don’t close, cracks have appeared in the cladding and/or on paved surfaces, or if you observe changes to the hills immediately above or in the ground around your property (new cracks appearing, bulging ground etc.) you should self-evacuate to a safe location and let the council know.
Follow local emergency management advice to keep you and your whānau safe.
Helpful links for current information:
National Emergency Management Agency’s emergency info page.
Nelson City Council’s emergency info page.
West Coast Emergency Management Facebook page.
Marlborough District Council Facebook page.
Our thoughts are with all of you impacted by the severe weather, landslides, and floods across the country and to those helping, stay safe.
Attributable to: Jon Carey, Landslide Duty Officer, GNS Science Engineering Geology Team Leader
Pigeon Post News
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