Student army joins operation cleanup in flood-hit Nelson

Nelson’s called in the cavalry to help with the weekend clean-up following the devastating flooding in the area.

But the troops, armed with shovels, wheelbarrows and gumboots galore, represent the Student Volunteer Army (SVA).

"It's a really great to see the turnout we've got today, I really feel like we can make a difference," says year 12 Nelson College student Matt Donald.

He's helping to co-ordinate the student response.

"We'll be trying our best to maybe get out another working bee tomorrow or next weekend, so the people of Nelson can see the SVA out again and helping them."

For local residents like Grant, the students were a welcome relief.

"These guys have done in minutes what would take us days probably so it's a bit of a Godsend."

Further up the Maitai River, Peter Watson is eyeing up the scene at his beloved Waahi Taakaro Golf Club.

It’s one of the hardest hit locations in the region.

"The power and the intensity of the flood waters was astonishing. The amount of debris strewn across the course is eye-watering."

Most of the bridges on the course are either partially or completely destroyed, as well as cycling facilities only recently built by the council.

A few of the club’s tee boxes even washed all the way out to Rabbit Island in the harbour.

Three of the nine holes are facing major repair, but Peter says it’s all fixable with time.

"Obviously it's a blow, but if we get the cooperation that we expect to get, we hope to be back in action sooner rather than later, so all is not lost."

In the meantime, the 200-plus members have been given free and discounted access to nearby courses.

Further downstream, large logs and debris caused a headache for Port Nelson.

"On day one we had an issue with one of our tugs had something stuck in its propeller," says Port Nelson CEO Hugh Morrison.

An average month will see 10,000 containers shift through the port, with around a third of them coming from Marlborough.

That cargo has had to take the long way round this past week, with State Highway 6 closed.

"We actually still made all our slots to get onto vessels. That was a really great achievement by the team."

He says the alternate routes such as Lewis Pass, which adds a minimum of five hours onto journeys, has unfortunately increased costs for shippers.

"This incident's been another layer of cost that they've just had to absorb and credit to their resilience."

A resilience that’s evident around the region.