The impact of the devastating Cyclone Gita which lashed the Tasman region in February 2018 is still being felt as final remediation from the havoc it created is undertaken.
Rivers burst their banks and locals fled their homes as a deluge from Cyclone Gita caused flooding across the region. The Motueka Valley and Riwaka were particularly hard hit.
Tākaka Hill endured the worst of the storm with tens of millions of dollars needed to rebuild state highway 60 – a project which took several years.
During the storm hundreds of tonnes of debris was washed down the Motueka River including farm out- buildings, fencing, even vehicles and the shape of the waterway was changed.
Tasman District Council’s Group Manager of Community Infrastructure Richard Kirby says at the time emergency measures were taken to haul debris out of the river and with the knowledge of landowners, it was buried on land to establish further temporary flood protection to properties along its banks.
He says it has been a major undertaking, but we are now in the final phases of remediation work along the river, focusing on the Peach Island area.
“During this work we are removing debris stockpiled during the event to enable river flow along its original course.”
Richard Kirby says the council knows some vehicles washed down the river during the event were buried in these piles on the farmland during the emergency once it was established they posed no immediate threat to the environment. The landowners were also aware of this.
“The latest work is unearthing them as planned for permanent disposal elsewhere.”
He says the recovery earthwork to ensure a higher level of protection for those in the Peach Island area of the Motueka River is expected to be finished within the next week with planting and further stabilisation work to be done after that.