Flooding along the Motueka River last week. Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee
- Orange level rain warnings are in place across the top of the South Island, including Tasman, Nelson and parts of Marlborough for most of Thursday
- It comes as the saturated regions face a huge cleanup from last week's storm which flooded homes and roads and destroyed swathes of farmland
- Local residents are wary of the situation being exacerbated as emergency officials prepare for the worst
Exhausted residents in the waterlogged Tasman district are on edge as they brace for another lashing of heavy rain.
As residents faced a lengthy cleanup, they are now staring down the barrel of another threatening barrage of downpours.
An orange rain warning in place for the Tasman District north-west of Motueka began at 3am on Thursday. It forecasts 120 to 150mm of rain, but heavier falls of up to 200mm are possible in localised areas.
The warning for the rest of the Nelson-Tasman District south-east of Motueka, and Marlborough north of the Wairau River, expected 80 to 110mm of rain about the Sounds and ranges, and 50 to 80mm elsewhere between 6am and 9pm on Thursday.
Fire and Emergency has also deployed several specialist teams to the region, including two specialist water rescue teams and and urban search and rescue unit.
Meanwhile, mobile phone companies say all cell services have been restored in the Tasman District.
In Tasman, people from the hard hit area of Tapawera gathered in the rugby clubrooms on Wednesday afternoon to hear the latest from Civil Defence officials.
It was the second of two community meetings held in the day following an earlier debrief in Wakefield.
Nelson Tasman controller Alec Louverdis said rivers were still running high in the already sodden region and heavy rain could present problems.
"If you have been affected, the only advice I can give you is that it's likely you will be hit the same," he said.
"I'm sorry I'm giving you that bad news, but you may need to self-evacuate and that's probably a prudent approach."
Civil Defence warned there was no room for complacency given the existing situation.
"This event on its own would probably not be that significant," Louverdis said.
"But with the weather we've experienced to date, we need to take a precautionary approach and we're doing that."
By Wednesday night, six homes in the Brooklyn area had been evacuated with some staying with friends and family whilst accommodation was provided to others.
Farmers already facing a mammoth clean up of destroyed pastures and fencing were on high alert.
'Some anxiety around'
Wangapeka farmer and Federated Farmers Nelson president Kerry Irvine told RNZ people were nervous about what was to come.
"There's definitely some anxiety around. And we get that," he said.
"People are pretty concerned about what's coming but you plan for the worst and hope for the best."
That apprehension was shared further east around Pigeon Valley, near Wakefield.
Louise is the wife of a volunteer firefighter who had worked long hours during last week's weather event.
Although their property came through unscathed, she admitted she was uneasy about the next 24 hours.
"He was out for 11 hours (on Friday) and even all of [McGazzaland park] was nearly right under," Louise said.
"It was quite scary to see that footage from him when he sent it back up home. Hopefully not again this week."
Motupiko farmer Julian Raine lost large sections of cropping land to the flood and said some of the damage could have been mitigated.
He said the Tasman District Council should be doing more to bolster flood protection for the Motueka River
"Very frustrating as a landowner," he said.
"TDC [Tasman District council] effectively wasting ratepayers' money by doing a job half-arsed when they should be getting alongside the [New Zealand Transport Agency] and fixing it together."
With more bad weather bearing down, he hoped he and other locals were not set for a repeat.
"I suppose I'm always positive and I don't think it's going to be anywhere near as what's predicted," Raine said.
"But we've got to be cautious and take all actions to protect ourselves, just in case they're right."
