Flooded river forces Nelson resident out of her home and into uncertainty

Wednesday, 17 August 2022

Ruth Barrett grabs some last minute belongings from her flooded flat in Nile St, Nelson on Wednesday after the Maitai River burst its banks in Nelson.

Ruth Barrett, 69, stands in the flooded living room of her ground floor flat.

Brown water covers the floor, reaching about mid-calf, and items float across the surface. Wet carpet squelches underfoot as Barrett moves through the room, picking up belongings to carry to her car.

It’s impossible to know what to take, she said. CDs, paintings – an upside-down glass, given to her by her mother decades ago.

“It’s cliché, but it’s the photos of the children you want.”

The flooded Maitai River in Nelson enters houses in Avon Terrace, Nelson.

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Ruth Barrett grabs some last minute belongings from her flooded flat in Nile St, Nelson on Wednesday after the Maitai River burst its banks.

* Landslide blocks culvert, floods street in Nelson

Barrett, alongside other residents of Nile St, Nelson, had been frantically moving belongings into their vehicles as they evacuated the area following the Maitai River bursting its banks on Wednesday.

Engineering Geologist Rob Hunter filmed a culvert blocked by a landslide causing a river down the road in Atawhai, Nelson. Developers from nearby are sending a digger to try to clear the blockage.

Barret said she first noticed brown water in her back garden, at around 3pm. Then a Nelson City Council worker came and knocked on her door, warning her that the river was rising.

After that, Barrett began frantically moving her belongings to her car – including her cat, Candy. It’s impossible to know what to take with her, she said.

Barrett said she had just reached to her manager, saying how luckily they were compared to the West Coast.

Now, her rental is flooded, and its contents ruined. The 69-year-old is between jobs, and doesn’t have content insurance.

Despite this, Barrett said she was strangely at peace with the situation.

'When they said it was going flood, I knew it was going to happen.

“I’m not going to be living here again … It’s like my home is gone.”

Civil Defence first responder Aaron Little said he had lived in Nelson for 25 years, and he had never seen the Maitai River rise like this before.

Currently, he and other people in Civil Defence were waiting for orders from police, who would be taking the lead in the case of the Maitai River breaking its banks.