Washout in Golden Bay

Community reeling and bracing for cleanup to begin.

Residents of Rainbow Valley Community in Golden Bay were stranded over the weekend after heavy rain overnight last Friday caused a washout on McCallum Rd.

Contractors worked on fixing up the road during Saturday and Sunday and residents were able to pass through again by Sunday afternoon.

Resident Wanda Shaw said that over a six hour period they saw 127mm of rain, 65mm of which hit the area in just a one hour period.

Resident Simon Jones said the road was still badly damaged and would require remedial work to fix.

"It was a bit of a mess, alright," he said.

The heavy band of rain had hit the area, bringing down piles of mud from creeks and causing two large slips and two washouts of the road.

"It certainly wasn't as bad as the 1983 flood, which was ten times worse than that one," he said.

During that flood it had taken them one week to fix the road.

"We were stranded and had our grocerys brought in on a helicopter for us."

Grovers Flat in the Anatoki River Valley is home to the Rainbow Valley Community and others. Up the gravel road to the isolated community there are about 40 people living there altogether.

Beach Rd also flooded in Golden Bay, including the businesses Estuary Arts and Rosy Glow Chocolate.

On Gibbs Rd in Collingwood, the Station House Motel and the Courthouse Cafe were also flooded out.

Station House Motel owner Darren Steel said the two culverts on Gibbs Road keep getting blocked, causing gravel, rock and silt to flow on to the neighbouring properties and the road."

"That was the fourth time its happened in six weeks," he said. "I think council are looking into doing something about the culverts which always seem to get blocked and can't drain."

The New Zealand Transport Agency issued a report on Saturday morning also warning drivers of slips on the Takaka Hill.

Drivers were warned to take extra care when driving along State Highway 60 after wet weather overnight caused road slips in the area.