Two weeks of heavy rain and flooding has taken its toll on West Coast communities, with some residents having to evacuate for the second time in as many weeks with more wet weather on the way.
A state of emergency was declared in the Buller District on Thursday and a compulsory evacuation order was issued for some Westport residents after heavy rain coincided with a high tide and threatened to flood low-lying areas.
Last week saw many residents flee their homes, after heavy rain battered the region, although flood waters didn’t end up surging to levels predicted.
Troy Scanlon, a Westport resident, said it had been a “tiring ten or so days”, from last week’s warnings, to this week’s heavy rain.
“Unfortunately this week, the rain just hit up in the backcountry and the river levels rose and caught us a bit unawares.”
Janis Lennon, a site coordinator for Westport’s Emergency Operations Centre, said the weather events were really getting to everyone.
“Two weeks in a row takes its toll.”
But, Lennon said getting the town’s evacuation centres into shape this time round was much easier.
“At least here at the South School, and OneSchool Global Westport campus, it was a lot easier than the Holcim site was last week.
“Because the Holcim site had been vacant for five and a half years. That was a mission to get into some sort of reasonable condition.”
Lennon said they’re thankful flood water levels weren’t as high as predicted.
“Overnight was really quiet, thankfully the water didn’t rise nearly as high as some predictions were so it was quite a relief for everyone.
She said there were around 46 people across three evacuation sites in Westport, some of which got to go home on Thursday evening.
Tropical cyclone Dovi is also heading towards New Zealand, bringing with it severe weather to parts of the country.
Though MetService said it was expected to lose it's “tropical characteristics”.
A heavy rain watch is in place for the Buller District until 12pm on Sunday.
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