Volunteers get hands dirty as Nelson cleanup begins

The Nelson community is picking up the pieces after a one in 100-year flood devastated the region.

The estimated cost of recovery is in the tens of millions, but where there's a crisis, there's kindness.

So far over $400,000 has been donated to Nelson, and $150,000 to Marlborough.

Volunteers are getting stuck in trying to clean up the mess made last week.

"We'd just like to be able to go out and offer our services to be able to help clean up some of the mess that's out there and just help some of these people to get back to normality," Alan Kissell of Menz Shed Waimea said.

Yusef Corten of Kebab Kitchen cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner for those who found themselves homeless.

"If someone is hungry, I can't go to bed and sleep and relax. I can't," he told 1News.

It's a region that's no stranger to natural disasters. After Cyclone Gita in 2018, Melissa Woodhouse started The Big Bake Up, with volunteers dropping off baking, meals and supplies, many just doing what they can.

"I'm not a physical person to go out there and shovel up dirt, but this is something that I can do, that I know how to do," Woodhouse said.

It's a simple sentiment that goes a long way in a crisis.