The number of red-stickered houses in Westport should be confirmed soon, while army personnel are being deployed to help flood-weary residents clear their homes of sodden carpet and damaged items.
Heavy rain caused widespread flooding in the West Coast town over the weekend, forcing about half the towns residents to evacuate their homes, closing roads, and damaging homes.
Buller mayor Jamie Cleine said more than 60 homes had been red-stickered by Thursday morning, meaning the houses were unhabitable, though people were allowed to return to gather their belongings and assess damage.
Well over 300 homes had been yellow-stickered, meaning they were liveable but in need of cleanup or repair, he said.
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A Civil Defence Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) spokeswoman said authorities expected less than 100 homes would end up being red-stickered.
There had been more rain overnight, which was heavy at times, and authorities were keeping a close eye on it, she said.
Cleine said the rain had not caused any further problems, but was a real nuisance. It was important to get the towns streets back to normal to boost residents’ morale, he said.
Drain clearing trucks were out on Thursday morning to ensure water was draining freely, but there were no significant issues at this stage, the EOC spokeswoman said.
A new band of hard-working volunteers is helping to strip flood-damaged Westport homes of their sodden carpets.
However it does slow the cleanup for people and makes it harder to air out/dry out their houses, so we are conscious that people might be feeling a bit fed up.
The spokeswoman said huge volumes of household rubbish had to be disposed of, including contaminated carpets and other sodden items that could pose a health hazard if they were not taken away quickly.
Army personnel would be out over the next few days to help remove rubbish, starting in the worst-hit areas.
A volunteer helps remove carpet from Salu Acklinos home on Roebuck St, Westport, after recent flooding.
We know people might be worried about not getting their stuff out in time, or not yet having the go-ahead from their insurance companies … we are working on ways to help people who might not have their stuff out in time for [Thursdays] collection.
An Insurance Council representative would be at the community hub at the NBS Theatre until Sunday to help answer any questions.
Buller Electricity had extra teams in to disconnect power to affected houses.
A representative told a public meeting in Westport on Wednesday evening that staff would be making sure houses were safe before power was reconnected, but that would not include appliances.
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The EOC spokeswoman said there had been rumours of arsons and looting, but police said they were unsubstantiated and there was no evidence of that sort of carry on.
There had been an incident of someone allegedly pretending to be a building inspector, but it sounds like it was either a one-of or pretty isolated.
Anyone doing official work would always have some sort of ID, and anyone with concerns should call police, the spokeswoman said.
Cleine said the welfare centres that had been hosting evacuees would be closed by lunchtime on Thursday.
He expected South School, which had been one of the welfare centres, would reopen for pupils on Monday after the school holidays ended.
