A Marlborough teenager walked through the water to make sure it was safe before helping his mother drive down a rural road in South Marlborough.
The road, Redwood Pass, was one of several that was flooded Tuesday in the Marlborough region after torrential rains.
“We drove through it because my mother went into Havelock this morning before the road closed, and she had to go home,” says 17-year-old Art Blom.
Brya Ingram/Stuff
Vehicles reversed Tuesday on SH1, near the Redwood Pass Rd intersection.
“We went down and walked on [the] water to make sure it was safe, and then I drove the car for my mom.”
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Blom said it was the worst he’d seen the underwater road, and hoped the weather would ease so he could get his school holiday job on Wednesday.
State Highway 1, between Blenheim and Seddon, was closed around 11 a.m. Tuesday due to flooding.
Seddon resident Liz Cleaver opened the Awatere Memorial Hall to motorists who were trapped. At 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, she estimated that there were nearly 100 people in the hall.
Brya Ingram/Stuff
Blenheim Taylor Dam.
But it was so busy, it could have been even more than that, she said.
“We have a room full of people and children… There’s a movie playing and it’s all nice and warm. It’s in full use, it’s a chocker block,” Cleaver said.
“There are a few sewer issues and a main break, but we’re making sure it works.”
Philip Taylor
Elodie Taylor is having fun with the flooding in Harling Park, Blenheim.
She said motorists heading north were waiting for the road to reopen.
Local businesses quickly helped and provided food for those waiting for the road to reopen, Cleaver said.
“The Seddon community is intensifying as always.”
Brya Ingram/Stuff
Surface flooding on State Highway 1, en route to Blenheim via Redwood Pass.
The council’s daily rain report, Tuesday at 3pm, showed that more than 65.4mm of rain had fallen in Blenheim Central, 107.5mm in Flaxbourne, 108mm in Onamalutu and 77mm in Rarangi.
Due to the heavy rain, the sewers in Blenheim and Seddon were also at full capacity. By noon, residents were asked not to flush the toilets in Blenheim and Seddon. The Picton, Renwick and Havelock sewage systems were unaffected.
Tuesday’s deluge came nearly a year after one of the worst flooding ever in Marlborough – causing mass evacuations, stop bank breaches, multiple road failures and landslides across the region.
Delivered
Flooding on Para Rd in Koromiko, south of Picton.
The storm on July 17 last year Put Marlborough in a state of emergency† It caused 1,600 disruptions to Marlborough’s road network estimated at over 100 miles of road, half of which in the Marlborough Sounds† Repairs from the storm were underway, with Awatere Valley Rd in Seddon and Kenepuru Rd in the Marlborough Sounds still facing “hard closures” to get the roads back in order.
Meanwhile, in Blenheim, Tuesday’s rain was no excuse for one family to sit indoors all day.
Darren, refusing to give his last name, let his three children Skye, 11, Ebony, 7, and Logan, 5, go kayaking and paddleboarding around Dillon St and Leefield St.
BRYA INGRAM/STUFF
It doesn’t have to be deep to get the kayak out after a little rain in New Zealand. Pictured, from left, are Logan, 5, Skye, 11, Darren with Zenka (Hungarian Vizsla) and Ebony, 7.
“When it’s raining like that, you don’t want to leave the kids on screens all day, so why not get wet and have fun,” he said.
Logan said he enjoyed kayaking in the rain but was ready to go in and said “it’s freezing”.
Road closures
Tuesday at 4 pm
- Beford Road in Renwick
- Hale St between Redwood St and Houldsworth St in Blenheim
- Seymour St in Seddon
Tuesday at 3 p.m
- Ben Morven Road is impassable at Ben Morven Bridge.
- Redwood Street between Ida St and Muller Road.
- SH63 between Renwick and St Arnaud.
- SH1 south of Blenheim between Roadhouse Drive and Seddon.
- Redwood Pass Road.
- Awatere Valley Road at exit SH1.
- SH6/Nelson Street just past Hutcheson Street.
- Fairhall Overflow and Omaka Ford on Old Renwick Road.
- Taylors Pass Road above Wither Road, diversion possible via Woodmor Road and Wither Hills extension.
- David Street between Battys Road and Severne Street.
- Port Underwood Road, from 2 km after Whatamango Bay and near number 1817 in Tom Canes Bay.
- McArtney Street between Trevor Crescent and Redwood Street.
- Kenepuru Road is closed at Cowshed Bay due to a slip.
- The Paraweg is closed.
- Kaituna-Tuamarina Road closed between SH6 and Waikakaho Road intersection.
- Jackson’s Road and Thompson’s Ford Road.
- Brookby Road at Fairhall.
Road opening:
- The tree across the road at Queen Charlotte Drive between Momorangi and Ngakuta Bay has been cleared.
WithService
Much rain, wind and some snow will fall in most of the country over the next week.